SEEKING THE TRUTH

Friday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time, Year A,  February 24, 2017.
1st Reading:  Book of Sirach 6:5-17.
A kind mouth multiplies friends and appeases enemies, and gracious lips prompt friendly greetings. Let your acquaintances be many, but one in a thousand your confidant. When you gain a friend, first test him, and be not too ready to trust him. For one sort is a friend when it suits him, but he will not be with you in time of distress. Another is a friend who becomes an enemy, and tells of the quarrel to your shame. Another is a friend, a boon companion, who will not be with you when sorrow comes. When things go well, he is your other self, and lords it over your servants; But if you are brought low, he turns against you and avoids meeting you. Keep away from your enemies; be on your guard with your friends. A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter; he who finds one finds a treasure. A faithful friend is beyond price, no sum can balance his worth. A faithful friend is a life-saving remedy, such as he who fears God finds; For he who fears God behaves accordingly, and his friend will be like himself. The word of the Lord.

Respons Psalm:119(118):12.16.18.27.34.35.
R/. Guide me, Lord, in the way of your commands.

Holy Gospel: Mark 10:1-12.
Jesus came into the district of Judea and across the Jordan. Again crowds gathered around him and, as was his custom, he again taught them. The Pharisees approached and asked, “Is it lawful for a husband to divorce his wife?” They were testing him. He said to them in reply, “What did Moses command you?” They replied, “Moses permitted him to write a bill of divorce and dismiss her.” But Jesus told them, “Because of the hardness of your hearts he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother (and be joined to his wife), and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate.” In the house the disciples again questioned him about this. He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.” The gospel of the Lord.

FRIDAY REFLECTIONS:
One of the most basic goals we must strive for in life is to seek the truth.  We must seek to know the truth, and then allow that truth to set us free.  On one level, the Pharisees were seeking the truth.  They asked Jesus a question about the Law of Moses and His interpretation of that law.  Though it is good to ask such a question and to seek an answer from Jesus, there is a subtle distinction that we must make. The distinction has to do with the motive of the asker.  In this case, the Pharisees were asking Jesus a question not because they were seeking the truth; rather, they were asking it with the intention of trickery and manipulation.  They were looking for anything they could to try to trap Jesus so as to condemn Him.  The much better way to ask Jesus a question is to come to Him for two reasons.

First, we must come to Him asking questions because we humbly believe that He is the source of all Truth.  This takes humility because it requires that we acknowledge that Jesus knows better.  He has the answer, a better answer than we have. Secondly, when we ask Jesus a question, we should examine our motivation.  Hopefully, our motivation consists in the single fact that we want to know.  We have come to believe that He is the source of truth and, therefore, we turn to Him so that we will understand.  So, not only do we humbly believe He has the answers, we also sincerely want to know them.  This form of an inquisitive and open heart disposes us to receive all that He says to us, as if we were dry land ready to soak up a gentle rain.

Pray with me: Lord, I turn to You as the source of all Truth.  Teach me Your ways and fill me with Your wisdom.  Help me to understand life as You see it and, in that understanding, help me to embrace Your holy will.  Jesus, I trust in You that You alone will heal our sick brethren and set them free. May the souls of our faithful departed brethren rest in perfect peace, amen. Have a blessed and fulfilled weekend.

Sourced by Wiezman Eleanya