Tag: bible

Why did Moses allow divorce?

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27th Sunday in Ordinary Time [B]

October 6, 2024

Mark 10:2-16

The Pharisees once again put Jesus to the test. This time, they asked the question of divorce. However, Jesus did something unexpected. He ‘changed’ the law of divorce. Why did Jesus “erase” the law of divorce?

Jesus responded by inquiring about the foundation of this law of divorce. The Pharisees pointed to Moses as the source of the law as he allowed divorce by giving a certificate of divorce to the wife (see Deu 24:1). Then, immediately, Jesus fired back, “For your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’” (Mar 10:5-6) Jesus made clear that divorce is not the will of God, but Moses was forced to permit it because of “the hardness of heart.” But what is this hardness of heart?

We recall that the Israelites in the time of Moses were so used to the ancient Egyptian practices including divorce. In ancient Egypt, marriage was primarily a private and cultural event, not religious. The couple themselves governed marriage. They would divorce their partner if they no longer saw their marriage viable. But divorce was not the only solution. If a man found his first wife no longer attractive, he could marry another wife without divorcing the first woman.

When God liberated Israelites from Egypt, God reintroduced His will that marriage is holy and part of God’s plan for men and women. Marriage was not just biologically or culturally driven but divinely instituted. Thus, God decreed that marriage must be monogamous and indissoluble. Yet, introducing God’s original plan to the ancient Israelites proved difficult. Indeed, the Israelites were physically liberated from Egypt, but their mentality remained enslaved. The Israelites were somehow able to accept monogamous marriage, but to add another requirement, that is, ‘no divorce’ was too much and too soon. Moses knew that the Israelites would commit more rebellions, and even men would kill their wives to get rid of them. Thus, Moses conceded that divorce should be allowed if the women were sufficiently protected through the divorce certificate.

Now, hundreds of years after Moses, God deemed the time has come to bring the original will of God into marriage. Thus, Jesus came not to ‘change’ the divorce law but to reintroduce God’s authentic will. Moreover, Jesus also brought the Holy Spirit to re-create human hearts, from the heart of stones into the heart of flesh. Now, the choice is ours. Will we follow God’s will in our lives and marriage by relying on His graces, or will we instead become stubborn and follow our own design?

Rome

Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP

Questions for reflection

How do we understand marriage? Is it a biological necessity, social convention, or divinely instituted? How do we feel about marriage? Is it a burden, obligation, or a blessing? What do we want to achieve in marriage? Is it pleasure, welfare, comfort, or holiness? What do we do when we encounter difficulty in marriage? Do we see marriage without divorce as a curse or a path to heaven?

Sin and God’s Love

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26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

September 29, 2024

Mark 9:38-48

Some people do not talk about sin. Some think that sins are no longer relevant in the modern world. The concept is a restriction on human freedom and creativity. Others see it as the Church’s invention to control its faithful, primarily through fear. Those who sin will be punished in hell! Others perceive that to talk about sin is incompatible with God, which is love. For some priests and preachers, the topic even becomes taboo to preach. Yet, this is all a misunderstanding. The proper understanding of sin will bring us a full appreciation of God’s love. Then how must we understand the concept of sin?

Firstly, the basic understanding of sin is a violation of God’s law, and God made His laws not to limit our freedom but rather the opposite. They are to protect us from harm, danger, and disasters. Every violation of God’s law brings catastrophic consequences. It destroys ourselves, others, and the world. Abortion kills innocent babies, destroys the holy vocation of motherhood, and treats sacred women’s bodies as mere tools. Masturbation seems less of a problem since it is something ‘personal’. But masturbation leads to mental health problems as we carve more and more dopamine (pleasure hormone) to satisfy us. Again, this causes us to see other people as mere tools to give us pleasure. By following God’s laws, we are not only avoiding harm in our lives but also walking on the path of happiness.

Secondly, sin is the contradiction of God’s love. God is love, and He loves us beyond our imagination. As divine Lover, He wills the best things happen to us, and He wills us to be united with Him as the only one who can satisfy our infinite desire. However, true love does not coerce and gives freedom to choose and love Him. Robots can obey all our orders, but there is no love since robots do not have freedom. A Labrador can abide by us and give us affectionate dog hugs, but this is not true love but a dog’s instinct to cling to his owner for survival. We have that true freedom. Unfortunately, we abuse our freedom to choose something much lesser than God and, thus, violate His laws. Therefore, sin is a radical choice to turn away from God. Hell is not God’s punishment but rather our decision to be separated from God, our true happiness.

Therefore, reading the Gospel, we immediately recognize that if there is one thing that Jesus hated the most, it is sin. He knows well what sin is and what it does to us humans. Adam and Eve sinned, and they brought the entire human race into a spiral of madness and despair. Jesus came to this world to get forgiveness of sin and to show God’s love on the cross so that we may be moved into repentance. Jesus loves sinners and not their sins in the sense that He wills them to embrace God’s forgiveness.

Therefore, preaching about sin and repentance and praying for sinners participates in Jesus’ mission and God’s love. But if we shy away from preaching repentance and even promote a fallacious concept of sin, we may deserve to be ‘thrown into the sea with miles stone’.

Surabaya

Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP

Questions for reflection:

How do we understand the concept of sin? Do we speak about sins and repentance, or do we try to avoid it? Do we continue to evaluate and correct ourselves? Do we visit the sacrament of confession often? Do we invite others to reflect God’s love and repentance?

The True Greatness

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25th Sunday in Ordinary Time [B]

September 22, 2024

Mark 9:30-37

The question of greatness is a major preoccupation of the disciples and many of us. What does it mean to be great? What is real greatness? What makes us great? Does Jesus teach us to pursue greatness, or does He shun it?

The disciples were arguing among themselves, ‘Who is the greatest?’ And this question was not coming out of the void but instead occasioned by Jesus’ revelation of His identity. In an earlier chapter, Jesus announced to His disciples that He is indeed the Christ, the Messiah expected by the Israelites. However, Jesus clarified further that this Christ must endure rejection, passion, and death. Unfortunately, the disciples did not understand the truth and persisted in their old beliefs. They thought Jesus was a Messiah like King David, who would lead Israel to victory against the enemies. The Messiah must not only free Israel from Roman oppression but also bring economic prosperity, religious freedom and renewal. To think a messiah would suffer and be defeated was incomprehensible and unacceptable.

Yet, Jesus seized the opportunity to teach about the true meaning of greatness. Jesus did not oppose the idea of greatness or having authority or power. Instead, Jesus clarified that to achieve true greatness, one must use his power and authority to serve and be the last. But what does it mean to serve? Is it enough to join and involve ourselves in charity programs or apostolates? Does serving mean giving donations to the poor or the Church?

After Jesus taught the disciples about true greatness, He did something extraordinary. He placed a little child amid His disciples and blessed the child. He said, “Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.” From here, we can conclude that to become great is to receive a little child in the name of Jesus. Then, where do we receive a child in the name of Jesus? The answer is in the family.

To become a parent, a father, and a mother is a call of true greatness. Accepting little and weak children in joy, raising them in faith, and finally offering them to the Lord require life-long sacrifice. This practically turns us into humble servants. This greatness does not make us famous, materially wealthy, politically powerful, or physically beautiful. In fact, we become the opposite! But this allows us to receive Jesus and the Father in our lives. Jesus seems to foresee a future where little children are rejected and even murdered.

Finally, true greatness is not here on earth but there in heaven. No wonder that in the Catholic tradition, the greatest saints in heaven are Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Joseph, Jesus’ foster father. Both Mary and Joseph accepted the little baby Jesus in their lives and raised Him in love and joy. They became the prime examples of true greatness.

Manila

Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP

Questions for reflections:

How do we understand true greatness? Do we strive to be great? Do we serve others? How? Do we also make sacrifices for others? How? Do we recognize parenthood as a call to greatness? For parents, how do we accept and love our children? What sacrifices do we make for our children? Are we aware that we must bring our children to God? For those who are not married, how do we accept and love little children in our lives?

Sola Fide and Letter of James

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24th Sunday in Ordinary Time [B]

September 15, 2024

James 2:14-18

When Martin Luther separated from the Catholic Church, he began translating the Bible into the native German language. However, he did not only translate but also segregate the books in the Bible. He placed some books in the appendix rather than in usual, and one of those books was The Letter of St. James. He dubbed the letter as ‘the epistle of straw.’  Fortunately, the Christians did not follow his advice and considered the epistle canonical. But why was Luther so eager to remove this letter from the Bible?

The reason Luther saw the letter as a mere straw is that the letter does not fit his theology. In his preface to the New Testament in 1522, he commented that the letter had ‘nothing of the nature of the Gospel about it.’ He judged that the letter contradicted his belief in salvation by faith alone (in Latin, sola fide). One particular verse that opposes the idea of sola fide is Jam 2:24. “You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.”

To understand further what this verse means, we must first understand ‘sola fide.’  Martin Luther believed that man was justified before God by faith alone. When we sin, for Luther, our nature is totally corrupted, and we are destined for hell. Yet, the sacrifice of Jesus hides our broken natures, and we are justified because God did not see us, but Jesus who covers us. What we need to do is to have faith or to believe in God’s promise of salvation through Jesus Christ. Luther denied any work we do, no matter how good they are, would be beneficial for our justification.

Meanwhile, St. James, our Lord’s brother and Jerusalem’s bishop, wrote his letter around 1500 years before Luther. Indeed, he did not mainly write against Luther, yet providentially, he wrote against those with a Luther-like mentality. Aside from addressing some problems in his community, like the discrimination against poor people, especially in the celebration of the Eucharist (2:1-6) and violation of the Ten Commandments (2:6-13, James also criticized some people who had faith in Jesus Christ but neglected the works of charity. Faith based on intellect and conviction is not sufficient for salvation. James taught that saving faith would manifest in love. Here, James agreed with St. Paul as St. Paul wrote, “Only faith working through love (Gal 5:6)”.

Finally, James also taught what Jesus taught to His disciples. In today’s Gospel, Jesus asked His disciples, “Who am I.” Simon Peter correctly answered, “You are Christ.” However, Peter’s confession of faith entails a more fundamental truth. Jesus taught them that they had to carry their crosses to follow Christ. Faith in Jesus entails our cross, that is, the sacrifice of love. It is not enough to let Jesus carry His cross while we sit nicely and watch His sacrifice. We also need to take part in His cross.

The Letter of St. James is another reminder not to pick Bible verses that suit our theology but rather to live according to Jesus’ teachings, which were handed down to the apostles.

Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP

Guide questions:

Do we have faith in God? How do we understand our faith? Do we bring our faith to live in the works of charity? What are the works of charity we do to express our faith? Are we able to explain our faith to people who ask? Do we share our faith? How do we share our faith? Do people get closer to God because of our faith? Or Do people go away from God because of us?

Beyond Track Records

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19th Sunday in Ordinary Time [B]

August 11, 2024

John 6:41-51

One of the ways to evaluate somebody is by looking at their track records. These records can be positive like their academic achievements, acquired skills, or excellent work experiences, but it can be also negative likes poor performances or engaged in unethical behaviour. Judging someone by their track records are natural and legitimate, but when we treat these tract records as the absolute measure, we may destroy somebody else’s life and future. This what

The reason why many Jews rejected Jesus was not only because His claim that He was the bread of life was outrageous, but also because He was a son of poor carpenter. Certainly, many were struggling with the truth of consuming Jesus’ flesh, some Jews recognized Jesus’ family background and came to believe that it was impossible for a poor carpenter from insignificant village Nazareth to tell the truth.  

However, it is only half of the story. Before Jesus made any stunning claim, Jesus proved Himself to be credible as He performed an extraordinary miracle, feeding more than five thousand people. Yet, some people readily forget that sign because they were not able to abandon their prejudices and surpass their religious preconceptions. Thus, they judged Jesus as either liar or lunatic.

While it is true that track records can speak volumes, it does not mean that a person cannot change. If someone is poor economically, does not mean that he will stay poor forever. We have a lot of stories of billionaires who started from zero, even below zero. J.K. Rowling, Jan Koum, and Steve Jobs to mention few. This truth is even more evident in the life of faith. Sinners and even Christ’s enemies that were touched by the grace and love of God transformed into saints. We have St. Paul who used to persecute early Christians, St. Augustine who used to live sins, and Bl. Bartolo Longo who used to be a satanic priest.

This gives us an important lesson that there is nothing impossible for God, and for those who are open to the grace and love of God. When we deal with difficult persons in our families or communities, do we immediately judge them to be hopeless case, or do we exert more effort to help, listen or at least to pray for them? When we see someone fall into sins, do we condemn them or do we spend more time to correct them, or at least pray for their conversion? When we see ourselves as unworthy of God, do we succumb into despair, or do we pray harder and beg for God’s mercy?

Surabaya

Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP

The True Miracle

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17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

July 28, 2024

John 6:1-15

The miracle of the multiplication of bread is a special one because this miracle is different from other Jesus’ miracles. Yet, what makes it truly unique from other miracles? How does this miracle shape our faith in Jesus?

The first thing we can observe is that this miracle is emerging from Jesus’ initiative. Jesus saw the people following Him,  He recognized their need and then, He came out with a miraculous solution. From this perspective, we can draw beautiful points about our God. He is not God who is far, aloof and only waiting for the people to approach Him and beg something from Him. Our God is a loving God who unfaillingly recognizes our needs and conditions, and even provides our needs even without us asking. God anticipates our necessities and fulfills them even without our realization. This is true and divine love, that is anticipatory, consistent and often overlooked. Do we thank the Lord for every breath we inhale? Are we grateful for the water we drink? Yet, God provides these for us.

However, the second character of this miracle makes it even more remarkable and unique. Before Jesus performed the miracle, He presented the situation to His disciples, and asked them to solve it. Philip immediately reduced the situation into an economic problem, and answered his Master that it was impossible to feed the people without spending massive amounts of money. Fortunately, Andrew recognized Jesus’ intention to test His disciples. He then brought a little but generous boy who offered his bread and fish to Jesus to be shared. Then, the miracle began to unfold.

If we try to compare with other miracles of Jesus, we discover that Jesus wills His disciples and followers to participate in the miracle. In other miracles like healings and exorcism, Jesus did it by Himself. He had no need for any help or participation from His disciples. Yet, when Jesus performed one of the greatest miracles, He wanted His disciples to generously offer what they have, and let Jesus bless their offerings, and so become a blessing for many people.

This is the true beauty of the miracle of multiplication of bread. Indeed, God can easily work without us, as many times He does, but He also chooses to work and perform His miracles through us. And, as we offer what we have and allow God’s grace to operate in us, God perfects us and makes us His miracles to many people. Through this participation, our dignity as children of God is elevated and further glorified.

As a preacher, I offer to the Lord, my time, my intellectual capacity, and my study of Sacred Scriptures, and often, I feel these are not sufficient. But, I pray that every time I preach, the Lord will multiply these tiny resources I have into the spiritual fruits in those who hear. As good parents, we offer our time, energy, and other resources to the Lord as we raise our children. Often, we feel these are not enough, but God blesses us and our children miraculously grow into mature individuals. How do you participate in God’s works and miracles?

Manila

Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP

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Jesus, Our Peace

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16th Sunday in Ordinary Time [B]

July 21, 2024

Eph 2:13-18

In his letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul called Jesus ‘He is our peace.’ Yet, why did St. Paul apply this strange title to Jesus? What does it really mean? And, how does this title affect our faith?

To understand Paul, we have to understand also the Old Testament. Afterall, Paul was a member of Pharisees, and thus, not only a zelous but also learned Jew. When St. Paul called Jesus as ‘peace’, he referred to the peace offering of the Jerusalem Temple. The peace offering (in Hebrew, Shalom) is one of sacrifices instructed by the Lord to the Israelites through Moses (see Lev 3). The peace offerings together with other with other sacrifices continued being offered in the time of Jesus and Paul. The ritual sacrifices ceased when the Romans burned down the Temple of Jerusalem in 70 AD, around two decades after Paul’s martyrdom.

As its name suggests, the purpose of this sacrifice is the reconciliation between the Lord, the God of Israel, and the Israelites who have offended the Lord. However, unlike other sacrifices that emphasize on satisfactions of sins and transgressions, like sin offering (chatat) and guilt offering (asham), the peace offering focuses on the result of God’s forgiveness, that is peace. When man offends God because of his sins, man becomes far from God, like an stranger and even enemy. There is enmity between God and man because of sin. There is no peace. However, when the man is forgiven, and his sins are removed, his friendship with God is restored, and there is peace between God and men. This peace causes joy and thanksgiving. The peace offering symbolizes the joy of forgiveness, the thanksgiving of peace achieved.

When St. Paul called Jesus as ‘our peace,’ St. Paul recognized Jesus offered Himself as the peace offering in the cross. Jesus did not only remove our sins, but also reconciled us to the Father. Jesus is the peace because He broke our enmity with God, and brought us back to God in friendship. Only in Jesus, we are at peace with God.

However, peace offering is also a special kind of sacrifice because it is not burnt totally (unlike holocaust sacrifice) but rather being shared also with the priest and the offerers. The fatty parts is burnt because it is for the Lord, some other parts of the animal are for the priests to consume and other parts are for those who offer the sacrifice. Thus, the peace sacrifice is like a meal shared by everyone. The sacrifice becomes the symbol of peace because only people who are at peace with each other can share the same table and food.

However, what is even more remarkable is the Catholic Church has this peace offering. Indeed, our peace offering is the Eucharist. In the Eucharist, Jesus is offered to the God the Father, and then, consumed not only by the priest, but also the faithful who participate in the celebration. Jesus Christ is truly our peace because in the Eucharist, we share the same meal with God.

Valentinus  Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP

The Authority to Love

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15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

July 14, 2024

Mark 6:7-13

In today’s Gospel, Jesus entrusted His disciples an authority. This authority is composed of several powers like to to cash out demons, to heal the sick, and to preach the repentance. The question to ponder is that why did Jesus hand down this kind authority to His disciples? Why did not Jesus give more useful tools like the power to control people, or power to produce money?

Firstly, from this story, we recognize that Jesus loves His disciples and as a proof of His love, He dares to entrust His authority to frail and sometimes, unreliable men. Jesus did not hoard everything to Himself, but rather share Himself with His disciples so that His disciples may grow, even through failures and weakness.

Secondly, the authority Jesus gave is not something that ends up manipulating people. Indeed, Jesus can possible give the authority to control people’s mind to His discciples, and this power can be extremely useful to draw more people to Jesus instantly. People will do everything for Jesus or for the disciples, but this is not real authority since it will objectify people and nothing but pure manipulation. Yes, Jesus can create an authority to control economy for His disciples, and this can generate enermous wealth for Jesus and His group. However, in the end, wealth control through manipulation is just corruption and greed.

Thirdly, if we look carefully the authority Jesus entrusted to His disciples is the authority to serve and to love. To heal the sick people without asking rewards, to cash out demons that tormented men and women, and to preach repetance for the salvation of souls are powers to bring holiness to people, to draw them closer to God. However, what even remarkable is that this authority to love requires even more love, a love that is miticulous, persistant, anticipatory but hidden. For example,  to preach the repetance, the disciples must walk miles, endure hunger and the sun’s scorge, and prepare what to say. They also had to face the fear of rejection, and eventually be at peace with unsatisfatory results. These are the small and hidden steps to reach the preaching of repetance, and these steps are also acts of love.

We, the disciples of Christ, are given the authority to love. As husbands, we have the authority to love our spouses. As parents, we posses the authority to educate our children. As priests, we are entrusted the authority to serve the people of God. Yet, these authority is even built on the small, hidden yet persistent acts of love. To love their young child, a couple have to endure lack of sleep, prepare and provide baby’s food on proper times, purchase and change the baby’s diapers, and many other small things. And, when the baby grows up, she will probably not appreciate what the parents did for her. What she is aware of is that she is now healthy, secure girl with bright future.

Love is not always grand and sensational, but oftentimes, little, constant and unappreciated. Yet, this kind of love that empowers us to fulfill our missions of life. This is our authority to love.

Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP

The Mystery of Faith

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13th Sunday in Ordinary Time [B]

June 30, 2024

Mark 5:21-43

Faith is fundamental to our salvation but is also one of the most misunderstood concepts. The stories of the healing of Jairus’ daughter and the woman with haemorrhage help us better understand the meaning of faith and how we need to live our faith.

The most basic understanding of faith is a belief in God, or for us Christians, a belief in Jesus Christ. This primary sense of faith relies heavily on our intellectual acceptance of the presence of God and Jesus as His only begotten Son, our Savior. However, how about those people with no opportunity to intellectually recognize Jesus? Like for example, Jairus’ daughter was gravely ill and eventually died. She was not able to have faith in her mind that Jesus would go to save her. Yet, she was saved from death, not because of her faith, but the faith of her father. St. James reminds us also that even the demons believed and knew well that God exists, but the intellectual faith does not save them.

The second type of faith is faith of conviction. This kind of faith involves not only intellectual recognition of God but also vigorous conviction and deep trust. This kind of faith is usually expressed in solid emotions and visible bodily actions like shouting the name of Jesus or bowing down in prayers. Yet again, St. Paul reminds us that this kind of faith does not bring salvation. He writes, “If I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing (1 Cor 13:2).”

Finally, the third class of faith is faith working through love. This faith not only accepts God intellectually and is profoundly hopeful but also manifests itself in works of charity. Compared to the previous two, this faith is more demanding yet also saving. We can see this from Jairus’s faith. His profound love for his daughter propels him to believe in Jesus, and in turn, his faith in Jesus empowers him to seek and beg for Jesus’ miraculous healing.

The story of the woman with a haemorrhage is more interesting. She seems to have a second type of faith or the faith with conviction. She sincerely believed that she would be healed if she touched Jesus, but if we go deeper, we find her faith goes beyond convictions. When she decides to approach Jesus, she does not immediately grab Jesus’ body or feet. Instead, she carefully selects to touch the tassel of Jesus’ clock. Why? The woman is aware that she has the flow of blood, and this makes her ritually impure, and anyone she touches may be contaminated by this impurity (see Lev 15:25-30). Therefore, by not making immediate contact with Jesus, the woman shows excellent care to preserve the purity of Jesus. This simple detail can show us her love for Jesus despite her limitations. Then, Jesus recognizes the true faith of the woman, and she is made well.

Do we have the saving faith? What kind of faith do we have, and how do we grow? Do we manifest our faith in God in love for Jesus and our neighbours?

Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP

Love of Christ urges us.

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12th Sunday in Ordinary Time

June 23, 2024

2 Cor 5:14-17

The relationship between St. Paul and the Church in Corinth is complicated. St. Paul was the first missionary to preach the Gospel in Corinth and establish the Church there. Yet, after St. Paul left for another mission, some members of the Church began to disobey Paul and discredit him. In his second letter, St. Paul tried to address this issue, both with tears and joy. What is the problem? How, then, did Paul answer this issue?

Corinth was one of the major cities in ancient Greece, and its strategic location made it wealthy and a major trading hub in the Roman Empire. This situation made the city attractive to many people, including Christian missionaries and preachers. When St. Paul left the city to preach in other places, other so-called ‘apostles’ came and began to teach the Christians in Corinth. Some of them seemed to intentionally discredit Paul by saying that he was not a true apostle. They would cite some proofs like Paul preached a different Gospel, Paul was not a real Israelite, and Paul was not accepting support from the Church (a preacher or missionary was expected to receive their living from the Church). Yet, now Paul was asking for donations.

In his letter, Paul defended himself. He only preached the true Gospel (2 Cor 11:1-6). He is a true Israelite from the tribe of Benjamin and, in fact, from the Pharisees’ group. And, often, he did not receive support from the Corinthians, but instead worked as a tent maker because he did not want to become a burden to the Church (2 Cor 11:7-10). Yet, Paul further explained that the donation he sought was not for himself but for the Church in Jerusalem (2 Cor 8:9).

Paul defended further his apostolic ministry that he received from God for the building of the Church. He was facing persecution both from the Jews and the Greeks; he was beaten in the Synagogue and jailed by Roman leaders. The angry mobs targeted him. Jews opposed Paul because he preached Jesus Christ. The Greeks hated Paul because he drew many people away from the pagan temples. Paul also experienced life-threatening dangers in his journeys: robbers, unfriendly weather, and shipwrecks. Beyond that, he also worked during the days to support himself and preached during the night, and his energy was restlessly spent to deal with various concerns of the Church (see 2 Cor 11:23-29). Paul explained why he was doing all these things: ‘The love of Christ urges us (2 Cor 5:14).’

Christ’s love is enormous; it empowers Paul to do the impossible: love like Jesus. Paul is not the only one who receives this overwhelming love of Jesus but all of us. Jesus loves us dearly to the point of giving up His life for us so that we may become a new creation in Him (2 Cor 5:17). Now, the question is whether we will accept this divine love and make it fruitful in our lives. Are we courageous enough to love like Jesus, as exemplified by St. Paul? Are we ready to face dangers and difficulty in preaching the Gospel? Are we willing to labour day and night for the people Jesus loves?

Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP