Daily Reflection

Genesis 22:1-19, Psalm 116 and Matthew 9:1-8)_
_*“When Jesus saw their faith he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven” (Matthew 9:2).*_  
In both our readings today, we see a visible display of faith from the persons involved. Abraham was actually ready to sacrifice Isaac in obedience to God’s command. The very fact that Abraham went to the extent of tying Isaac up and laying him down on the pile of wood showed his great faith that despite waiting for twenty-five years for Isaac, God had the power of giving him other children.
Matthew tells us that Jesus saw the faith of the men who brought the paralytic to him. Jesus read their hearts, he saw how certain of a cure they were. You see, God knows when we pray with Faith and when we have no faith. For instance, having forgiven the sins of the paralytic, Jesus read the hearts of the men who were saying to themselves: “This man is blaspheming.”
There are three lessons we learn from today’s readings:
*One, God sometimes puts us to the test.* Abraham was tested, Job was tested, and even Jesus suffered temptation in the wilderness. Perhaps, you may be going through a test right now without even knowing it. You may be asking yourself: “Why me? Why me?” Remember Abraham, remain steadfast, and follow God to the end. Never for once bow to the devil. Do not justify that sinful choice in the name of “it was my circumstances.”
*Two, we can never hide anything from God.* We may pretend before people, we may tell lies or destroy the evidence of our evil deeds, but nothing, absolutely nothing is hidden from the presence of God. Even the thoughts in your hearts are very loud in the ears of God. Jesus tells us that if our faith be as small as a mustard seed, we can move mountains. This means that if faith is lacking in us, God can see it. How visible is your faith?
_On a side note, it is very disturbing today that many Christians do not believe in God, but in their pastors and priests. They do not think that by praying, they would be answered but they are so sure that if the “man of God” prays for them (perhaps, does some dramatic moves), then their prayers would be heard. These are Christians that worship their ministers and place him/her on a pedestal even higher than God, such that they can afford to stop going to Church entirely when they discover the minister (whom they took for an idol) is just a human being like them. Have Faith in God, He will never fail you. Do not have faith in any minister, human beings will fail you._
*Three, obtaining forgiveness of our sins must take a higher priority over our demand for miracles (or daily bread).* The Gospel of prosperity which has become so popular among Christians today (especially in a tough economy like ours) is a Gospel that is aimed at making its hearers feel good, as such, it relegates sin and personal responsibility to the background. When you want to make a man smile, don’t tell him his mouth is oozing. Dear friends, let truth be told, our problems as a nation today are because of our sins. We are being punished for our own wickedness. Stop patronizing miracle centres, look inwards and purge yourself from sin first. God will do the rest. When last did you visit the sacrament of confession?