Martyrdom, Omniscience, Docility

MATTHEW 10:24-33

Jesus said to his Apostles: "No disciple is above his teacher, no slave above his master. It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, for the slave that he become like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more those of his household!

"Therefore do not be afraid of them. Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.

And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father's knowledge. Even all the hairs of your head are counted. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father."

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I am very overwhelmed by today's passage. It speaks much of different yet interrelated points I have to pay attention to in my current discernment process.

One of the themes which struck me in today's Gospel is the passage on the immortality of the soul and the gift of martyrdom. "And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. " This passage has inspired countless Christians with its challenge to offer their lives to Christ. Indeed, many have died and spilled their blood to prove that there can be nothing that would separate them from their faith in Jesus Christ. How are we ready to die for Jesus?

Another is that of God's omniscience--His all-knowingness. "Even all the hairs of your head are counted." Imagine how He knows each one of us, He even knows how many are our hairs, and I assume, He even knows the number of our cells and how they do their work inside our bodies! No wonder the Lord is a great Physician!

Finally, I would have to dwell on the virtue of docility, the willingness to learn: as children of God, we have to allow opportunities to learn. "No disciple is above his teacher, no slave above his master." It is all too tempting to resist being taught by other more authoritative people when we claim to have been through quite a lot of spiritual direction, devotions, prayers, etc. This is especially true when we adopt a "holier-than-thou" attitude: claiming our holiness as superior to that of other people. We sometimes shrug our shoulders and claim to know the things that God thinks we still need to master. And some of these things can be quite fundamental: stuff like simple forgiveness, humility, love, purity, among others.

What do we need to learn? If God nudges us and tells us that He has something more to teach us, how do we behave? Do we whine, claiming we know this and that already? Or we humbly listen?

Lord, teach us to listen. Teach us to learn.

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Saint Ignatius of Loyola, pray for us.

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photo credits:
http://www.lincstrust.org.uk/factsheets/nestbox/sparrows.jpg, http://lh3.ggpht.com/_cmtuJxGbpac/Rl9OWD7n-6I/AAAAAAAAADQ/l4DfrWP2_5k/DSCN3529.JPG