THE GOSPEL ACCORDING
TO MATTHEW
CHAPTER
18
1. At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"
(Gospel of Matthew Chapter 18 verse 1)
Oh Jesus we are so different from each other. We operate on two different wavelengths. This makes communication so challenging but never impossible. While You based Your life on humility as humans we seek honours and grandeur and high status manifesting many signs of our status by means of our property and even the stylish language that we may use when in public.
Oh Jesus this is all vanity because what is really and truly of value, is all that has to do with Your Kingdom. It is of value to take care of our physical welfare and to have enough resources to cater for our own needs oh Jesus. You are aware of this and shower us with Your bounty of providence, however what is really important is our spiritual welfare because this is our greatest investment on leaving this world. You are our treasure oh Jesus and all that has to do with You. I pray that I always give You the first place in my life and encourage others to do likewise. Amen.
2. He called a child, whom he put among them, 3. and said, "Truly I tell you change and become like children,, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
(Gospel of Matthew Chapter 18 verses 2 to 4)
On observing my daughter oh Jesus I observe that as a child she highly depends on me as a parent to provide for her needs. When in need she comes to me or her mother and asks us for this and for that. At times we accept her request but at other times we have to say no. With You it is the same oh Jesus. We are to be humble and offer our issues to You in a spirit of humility instead of keep on relying on our own resources and when we have exhausted all our options, only then do we refer to You. We may think that we are living a good life, praying on the bible attending mass or prayer meetings, however if we are not humble with ourselves and with others we are still not on the right track. In order to assess our progress with God in humility it is helpful to assess how humble we are in our relationships with others, because how can we love the God whom we do not see and hate the persons with whom we relate both at home and at work in other environments?.
It is a proper time to stop and reflect on this issue and then offer to You my God those issues and or people or situations that are blocking our humility valve from functioning. In order to make an assessment of our humility it is helpful to refer to the ten commandments and make a checklist. The following may be of help:-
Commandment Number 1: I am to be Your only God.
On reflecting on my life, is God the only God or are there others who are sitting in the God seat? On the other hand it can be that I am sitting on the God seat and I think that I am in control of my life. If so my humility marker is flashing red. I am proud. I have made plans to control every aspect of my life or at least I think I have. Nobody on earth or in heaven can violate those plans! I have become God of my life!
Commandment Number 2: Do not worship or serve idols.
On reflecting do I have time to pray and worship You oh God or have I placed myself in the centre and have a great desire to receive praise from others. At the present time who I am worshipping; my work, on line games, my family, my car or maybe my friends.
Commandment Number 3: Do not misuse God's name
When I speak of You my God, what are my feelings; am I ashamed of talking about my faith in public. Do I refer to You by another name such as deity or concept in order to shadow the fact that I am a Christian. Do I proclaim Your name in the presence of believers and ridicule it by placing science, psychology or other religions in the centre instead of Your name.
Commandment Number 4: Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
Do I show respect to the days of God such as Sunday and make it holy by going to mass with my family, friends or others or is this day as common as other days of the week. Is Independence day, New Year or maybe Christmas more important than Saturday which is the day of God? Am I humble in the observance of such important moments in our spiritual life or is my life centred on myself and my successes?
Commandment Number 5: Honour your Father and your Mother.
Do we still share the hurts of the past that we acquired on behalf of our parents? Are we still angry and hurt by the grievances that we received. Are we humble to admit that such people may not have had the tools in order to behave better and thus they behaved as they did? Are we still harbouring a grudge because our brother or sister was treated differently and you ended up being the underdog? If so we need to forgive in a spirit of humility in order to be able to receive God's forgiveness. Forgiveness gives us both physical and even psychological healing. I am a witness of such healing. I am 43 years old and for a long time I had had my self esteem crushed by my father who was always criticising me. To make a long story short my life became a life of misery. I was living my past but never the present. By means of a group of people who attend a prayer group I was helped to become aware that I was focusing on the blame and not on the fact that by holding back my forgiveness I was blocking my spiritual development.
Commandment Number 6: Do not commit murder
Do not commit murder. This form of murder may be attributed to the destruction of the body, however this can also imply the murder or destruction of the soul. This is a device that can be commonly found in the married life. The weapon used is silence. As humans we are social beings created to communicate with both God and our fellow persons, however when we shut each other out of our lives this is very painful and frustrating to the spirit that is yearning to communicate and love although we are sinners and prone to sin and hurt each other. Therefore instead of being proud and haughty it is best to get down off our high horse and admit that we all make mistakes and instead of passing judgement on each other it is more fruitful to pray and try to establish the road to love and reconciliation, with ourselves and others especially those in the married life.
Commandment Number 7: Keep Your marriage promises
Oh Jesus this is one of the most challenging commandments especially when considering that during our times the family structure is in a radical state of change. Our change of values and worldly choices are placing the family under alot of stress and this is causing many problems. I am sorry to say that we are violating the concept of marriage that is a union between You and humanity and am resorting to partners that means female and male counterparts that are taking place of the wives and husbands. To make matters worse the evil powers of Satan are convincing people in powerful places to promulgate laws that encourage and support such a union or partnerships.
Commandment Number 8: Do not steal
Do not steal has a wider connotation than that of material goods. When we are spending excessive time in worldly activities such as work and the least time for prayer or with our family we are stealing the family and God of the time that is duly theirs. When we speak falsely about our colleagues we are stealing their good name and reputation and doing at times harm that may be irreparable. Humility compels us to consider others before ourselves and not above others.
Commandment Number 9: Do not lie.
Oh God when You commanded us to be humble and pure in spirit You also meant that the truth is to be present in us and that what we declare is to be the truth and nothing but the truth. This means that we are never to say lies whatever the circumstances. Moreover You never made a distinction of colour in relation to lies, whether they are white black or red lies. These categories have been created by humans in order to justify one form of lies over the other.
Commandment Number 10: Do not want what others have
In the name of humility oh God I am to be happy with all that You have given me and not be envious of the benefits and gifts that You have given to others. Instead of being jealous for people with different gifts in talents it is better that we pray for such people so that Your Holy Spirit will continue to give them even more gifts to share with others.
In order to refer to the ten commandments please refer to the following link:-
The Ten Commandments
(Gospel of Matthew Chapter 18 verses 2 to 4)
On observing my daughter oh Jesus I observe that as a child she highly depends on me as a parent to provide for her needs. When in need she comes to me or her mother and asks us for this and for that. At times we accept her request but at other times we have to say no. With You it is the same oh Jesus. We are to be humble and offer our issues to You in a spirit of humility instead of keep on relying on our own resources and when we have exhausted all our options, only then do we refer to You. We may think that we are living a good life, praying on the bible attending mass or prayer meetings, however if we are not humble with ourselves and with others we are still not on the right track. In order to assess our progress with God in humility it is helpful to assess how humble we are in our relationships with others, because how can we love the God whom we do not see and hate the persons with whom we relate both at home and at work in other environments?.
It is a proper time to stop and reflect on this issue and then offer to You my God those issues and or people or situations that are blocking our humility valve from functioning. In order to make an assessment of our humility it is helpful to refer to the ten commandments and make a checklist. The following may be of help:-
Commandment Number 1: I am to be Your only God.
On reflecting on my life, is God the only God or are there others who are sitting in the God seat? On the other hand it can be that I am sitting on the God seat and I think that I am in control of my life. If so my humility marker is flashing red. I am proud. I have made plans to control every aspect of my life or at least I think I have. Nobody on earth or in heaven can violate those plans! I have become God of my life!
Commandment Number 2: Do not worship or serve idols.
On reflecting do I have time to pray and worship You oh God or have I placed myself in the centre and have a great desire to receive praise from others. At the present time who I am worshipping; my work, on line games, my family, my car or maybe my friends.
Commandment Number 3: Do not misuse God's name
When I speak of You my God, what are my feelings; am I ashamed of talking about my faith in public. Do I refer to You by another name such as deity or concept in order to shadow the fact that I am a Christian. Do I proclaim Your name in the presence of believers and ridicule it by placing science, psychology or other religions in the centre instead of Your name.
Commandment Number 4: Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
Do I show respect to the days of God such as Sunday and make it holy by going to mass with my family, friends or others or is this day as common as other days of the week. Is Independence day, New Year or maybe Christmas more important than Saturday which is the day of God? Am I humble in the observance of such important moments in our spiritual life or is my life centred on myself and my successes?
Commandment Number 5: Honour your Father and your Mother.
Do we still share the hurts of the past that we acquired on behalf of our parents? Are we still angry and hurt by the grievances that we received. Are we humble to admit that such people may not have had the tools in order to behave better and thus they behaved as they did? Are we still harbouring a grudge because our brother or sister was treated differently and you ended up being the underdog? If so we need to forgive in a spirit of humility in order to be able to receive God's forgiveness. Forgiveness gives us both physical and even psychological healing. I am a witness of such healing. I am 43 years old and for a long time I had had my self esteem crushed by my father who was always criticising me. To make a long story short my life became a life of misery. I was living my past but never the present. By means of a group of people who attend a prayer group I was helped to become aware that I was focusing on the blame and not on the fact that by holding back my forgiveness I was blocking my spiritual development.
Commandment Number 6: Do not commit murder
Do not commit murder. This form of murder may be attributed to the destruction of the body, however this can also imply the murder or destruction of the soul. This is a device that can be commonly found in the married life. The weapon used is silence. As humans we are social beings created to communicate with both God and our fellow persons, however when we shut each other out of our lives this is very painful and frustrating to the spirit that is yearning to communicate and love although we are sinners and prone to sin and hurt each other. Therefore instead of being proud and haughty it is best to get down off our high horse and admit that we all make mistakes and instead of passing judgement on each other it is more fruitful to pray and try to establish the road to love and reconciliation, with ourselves and others especially those in the married life.
Commandment Number 7: Keep Your marriage promises
Oh Jesus this is one of the most challenging commandments especially when considering that during our times the family structure is in a radical state of change. Our change of values and worldly choices are placing the family under alot of stress and this is causing many problems. I am sorry to say that we are violating the concept of marriage that is a union between You and humanity and am resorting to partners that means female and male counterparts that are taking place of the wives and husbands. To make matters worse the evil powers of Satan are convincing people in powerful places to promulgate laws that encourage and support such a union or partnerships.
Commandment Number 8: Do not steal
Do not steal has a wider connotation than that of material goods. When we are spending excessive time in worldly activities such as work and the least time for prayer or with our family we are stealing the family and God of the time that is duly theirs. When we speak falsely about our colleagues we are stealing their good name and reputation and doing at times harm that may be irreparable. Humility compels us to consider others before ourselves and not above others.
Commandment Number 9: Do not lie.
Oh God when You commanded us to be humble and pure in spirit You also meant that the truth is to be present in us and that what we declare is to be the truth and nothing but the truth. This means that we are never to say lies whatever the circumstances. Moreover You never made a distinction of colour in relation to lies, whether they are white black or red lies. These categories have been created by humans in order to justify one form of lies over the other.
Commandment Number 10: Do not want what others have
In the name of humility oh God I am to be happy with all that You have given me and not be envious of the benefits and gifts that You have given to others. Instead of being jealous for people with different gifts in talents it is better that we pray for such people so that Your Holy Spirit will continue to give them even more gifts to share with others.
In order to refer to the ten commandments please refer to the following link:-
The Ten Commandments
5. Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.
(Gospel of Matthew Chapter 18 verse 5)
All the good works that we do in order to be of help and support to others is greatly appreciated by You oh God and Father. When doing so we are continuing the unfolding the plan both for our salvation and even for that of others.
6. "If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea. 7. Woe to the world because of stumbling blocks! Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to the one by whom the stumbling block comes!
(Gospel of Matthew Chapter 18 verses 6 to 7)
Oh Jesus when reading and praying on these verses one may easily be tempted to refer to the many cases of child abuse that have taken place in the Roman Catholic Church. Moreover we may even feel happy to find somebody to use as a scapegoat in order to cover our own misgivings towards our children. Due to the fact that You permitted me to work with such cases of children who had experienced different forms of abuse, I am more than familiar with the harm that takes place in such cases. Moreover oh Jesus I thank You for permitting me to experience abuse for I now have a better idea of what such children may have experienced.
However oh Jesus there is more to the term abuse than the physical aspect. When we deny our children of our time and prefer to spend our time in hobby time, prayer time or at work this is also abuse of our children who after a day's work would like nothing better than to spend time with their mothers and fathers. Therefore before passing judgement on others it is best to stop and analyse our own behaviour in order to see if it is being abusive in some way or another.
In light of this issue oh Jesus I would like to refer the readers of this blog to an article that gives statistics of cases of child abuse in the United States and other places in the world
Statistics of Child abuse cases
8. "If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than to have two hands or two feet and to be thrown into eternal fire. 9. And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out and throw it away; it is better fir you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into the hell of fire.
(Gospel of Matthew Chapter 18 verses 8 to 9)
Oh Jesus your counsel is wise. It is better for me to avoid all that is of spiritual and physical harm than to lead an alienated life of sin and end up in the fires of hell. I thank You again and again for raising in me this morbid awareness.
10. "Take care that you do not despise one of these little ones; for, I tell you, in heaven their angels continually see the face of my Father in heaven. What do you think? If a shepherd has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountain and go in search of the one that went away? 13. And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. 14. So it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.
(Gospel of Matthew Chapter 18 verse 10 to 13)
Oh Jesus thank You for assigning guardian angels to our little children. I thank for doing so even in the spiritual life. I believe that even when we mature and grow of an age Your guardian angels are still with us standing on alert to help protect us against the forces of evil. Oh Jesus although we grow up in truth we are still frail and prone to sin as much as little children. Although we grow up we are still at the risk of becoming lost, for at heart we are still children. I pray oh God that You keep on protecting our children. I also pray for all the social workers who work in the area of child abuse around the world especially those working in Malta for their task is becoming ever so challenging throughout each day of our lives. Give them the wisdom, courage and faith to act at the proper time according to Your Holy Will Amen.
14. So it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.
(Gospel of Matthew Chapter 18 verse 14)
Therefore oh God as adults and as Christians it is our responsibility to take care of our children and protect them from both physical and spiritual harm. We are to go against the ways of the world that promote ways of aborting children. We need to be pro life and not in favour of a culture that promotes death and destruction. God did not create death, it was only, the consequence of our sins that death was introduced and not according to the will of God.
15. "If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. 16. But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17. If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
(Gospel of Matthew Chapter 18 verses 15 to 17)
Oh Jesus had this process been applied in particular cases of abuse and in other cases the consequences may have been more positive than in fact were. For as a consequence of simply accusing the persons involved and exposing them to the media mud was thrown at the Roman Catholic Church regardless of the integrity of many priests, nuns and monks whose lives are so exemplary that they out stand among those who blemish Your body on earth that is the Church. I believe that if these persons were confronted face to face in the presence of others as You explained the outcome may have been totally different and less harm would have been done.
18. Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19. Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20. for when two or three are gathered in my name, I am among them."
(Gospel of Matthew Chapter 18 verse 18 to 20)
Oh Jesus You love us so much that You are so close to us. In fact as You said You are only one prayer away from us. It takes only two or three people to express their prayers and You respect or needs and respond to them. However one may ask "Why are there moments when my prayers seem to be unanswered?" Oh Jesus You strictly said when we pray "In Your Name". Do I invoke the name of God or are my prayers simply give me this or that? This is something that we always have to keep in mind because without knowing I may be praying in 'my name' and not in 'Your Name'.
21. Then Peter came and said to him, "Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?" 22. Jesus said to him, "Not seven times, but, I tell you seventy-seven times.
(Gospel of Matthew Chapter 18 verses 21 to 22)
This Issue of forgiveness is very important. I had personal issues with it my God, and if it was not for your love and intervention I would have remained a slave of my emotions and self-pity forever. When we decide not to forgive a person oh God we close the doors on our spiritual, social and psychological well-being. We cannot reach others due to our hurt feelings and in turn we cannot be reached by others because any attempt may be associated as an intrusion or a lack of understanding even if the person offering help has good intentions of helping us. Our relationship with God is also blocked. God is love, love results in forgiveness. Therefore if we have closed the doors on forgiveness we have closed the doors on receiving God's love. Moreover if we have our hearts full of our hurts and feelings of anger how can we receive Your forgiveness without first letting go of our sinful selves and forgive those who trespass against us. Unforgiveness and forgiveness are like to polarities of which one is negative and the other is positive. They both have a force that is very strong however one empowers us and switches us on that is forgiveness and the other is strong enough to shut us down on all levels of being and function.
In light of the issue of forgiveness I would like to share the following prayer on which we can all stop, pray, reflect on our sins for we are also sinners and are all in need of Your forgiveness oh God.
Prayer for forgiveness
23. "For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves, 24. When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; 25. and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. 26. So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.' 27. And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. 28. But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii and seizing him by the throat, he said, 'Pay what you owe.' 29. Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you. 30. But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt. 31. When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. 32. Ten his lord summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33. Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?" 34. And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt. 35. So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart."
(Gospel of Matthew Chapter 18 verses 23 to 34)
Oh Jesus with a heart full of joy and gratitude I thank You for this parable, for by means of this parable and by means of three special persons in my life You showed me what a big mistake I was doing when I was holding back my forgiveness for almost 43 years towards my father who had hurt my feelings so much at the time of my childhood that scars had developed in me and I could not function as human. I was so hurt that when anybody mentioned the word father tears would come from my eyes. Even though I was the injured party due to the fact that I was holding back my forgiveness I was the one who was suffering.
In order to make a long story short I grew up and graduated as a social worker and when I was put to the test by You oh Jesus in the area of abuse I broke down emotionally during the evaluation after my first care order where we had taken a child who was being abused from her grandparent from a school. During this evaluation the issue of my past surfaced and because of it I lost my job because the agency said that if they were aware of my past they would not have employed me because this issue had caused a great blockage in me so much that I could not function.
Even though I have stopped working in this profession ever since this episode I thank You God for in the meantime You started the process of my inner healing. While attending a prayer group called "Kommunita' Gesu Salvatur" which means "Community of Jesus Christ our Saviour" the group leader was talking about the issue of non forgiveness. Among the list of many scriptures that the leader gave us on which to reflect was this parable on forgiveness. While in groups in tears I shared my experience with the group leaders and tears flowed again and again. However the group leaders Marion and Clyde Attard explained to me that if I was to be healed I was to forgive my father 'from the heart' and not only from the lips.
As in the case of the slave I was strangling my father and insisting that he forgives me, however I was not willing to forgive him. However in truth I was the one in an emotional prison, When browsing on the issue of forgiveness among the many sources You gave me a video clip showing the reality that as humans due to our upbringing or level of education we simply do not always have the necessary tools needed to express ourselves in a healthy way and we end up using our selves but instead of expressing our selves in a healthy way we end up hurting each other and this even lead to hurting and or abusing the others emotions.
In a spirit of prayer oh God You made me aware that my father had endured a very difficult childhood. At an early age his mother with whom he was close had died and this was a great loss and caused a great emptiness in him that nobody could fill in humanly speaking. Throughout the days of his life my father had not received healing from this loss and these feelings turned to anger. His development as human became stunted and blocked so much that he could not even make rational and responsible decisions as in the case of marriage. In fact the marriage between him and my mother was annulled in relation to a lack of discretion during the time of consent. He simply did not have the tools to carry out this role. He was in need of a carer, somebody to love him, somebody who9 may some day replace the love and care that he had received from his mother. However like an abandoned creature in the wild instead of love and care he received bites and scratches which added to his hurt and already damaged state of development.
So before passing judgement on each other and deciding not to forgive somebody please stop and reflect. It could be the case that the person concerned does not know better due to issues that you and even the person are not aware of!
I would like to end this chapter with the following prayer:-
Oh Jesus I would like to place before You the hearts of many people who have been or are still being hurt by others. I pray that as You healed me, You also heal these people for it is a living hell to live such a life. I would like to thank You for many people by which You enlightened me and led me to my healing such as Clyde Attard, Marion Attard and Josette among others whom You used in order to help me realise that by not forgiving my father I could not receive forgiveness from You oh Jesus for I am also a sinner who hurts other people.
Thank You Jesus.
In a spirit of prayer oh God You made me aware that my father had endured a very difficult childhood. At an early age his mother with whom he was close had died and this was a great loss and caused a great emptiness in him that nobody could fill in humanly speaking. Throughout the days of his life my father had not received healing from this loss and these feelings turned to anger. His development as human became stunted and blocked so much that he could not even make rational and responsible decisions as in the case of marriage. In fact the marriage between him and my mother was annulled in relation to a lack of discretion during the time of consent. He simply did not have the tools to carry out this role. He was in need of a carer, somebody to love him, somebody who9 may some day replace the love and care that he had received from his mother. However like an abandoned creature in the wild instead of love and care he received bites and scratches which added to his hurt and already damaged state of development.
So before passing judgement on each other and deciding not to forgive somebody please stop and reflect. It could be the case that the person concerned does not know better due to issues that you and even the person are not aware of!
I would like to end this chapter with the following prayer:-
Oh Jesus I would like to place before You the hearts of many people who have been or are still being hurt by others. I pray that as You healed me, You also heal these people for it is a living hell to live such a life. I would like to thank You for many people by which You enlightened me and led me to my healing such as Clyde Attard, Marion Attard and Josette among others whom You used in order to help me realise that by not forgiving my father I could not receive forgiveness from You oh Jesus for I am also a sinner who hurts other people.
Thank You Jesus.
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