Saturday of Week 14 in Ordinary Time
Gen 49:29-33,50:15-26
Mt 10:24-33
“So if anyone declares himself for me in the presence of men, I will declare myself for him in the presence of my Father in heaven. But the one who disowns me in the presence of men, I will disown in the presence of my Father in heaven.”
These are probably some of the most serious and solemn words that Jesus ever spoke.
Yes, Jesus. The Son of God, the Lord and Creator of the universe. The same One who spoke all things into existence. The same Jesus who used his own blood to save and redeem us. The Jesus to whom God gave all authority in Heaven and on earth.
Keeping this in mind, we realise that Jesus has made a wonderful promise, but also left us with a serious warning.
Being a visual person, after my earthly journey, I would place myself standing before the throne of Heaven, awaiting judgement (with soft, cherubic music playing in the background). Everything I would have done during my earthly existence would be placed before me.
Would I be ushered into eternal life in His presence? Or would I be cast from His presence eternally?
So if anyone declares himself for me in the presence of men, I will declare myself for him in the presence of my Father in heaven.
As the music softens, Jesus steps forward as my advocate and shares how I turned away from sin and trusted him, going on about how I freely acknowledged Him before man, sharing about Him so that my fellow brethren may be saved. That I lived a life filled with Jesus and led by the Spirit so that by my very actions, I gave witness to Him — a faithful servant at the end of his journey, having completed his tasks. That is one scene that could play out…
But the one who disowns me in the presence of men, I will disown in the presence of my Father in heaven.
…or, would I be in a room filled with deafening silence, with no angels present?
Jesus steps forward with a sadness that only Divine Love can experience. Jesus then narrates that He never knew me. That while I would have heard of Him and thought about Him, I continued to deny Him to cater to my earthly whims, expectations and desires. I even entertained jokes about Him and was embarrassed to acknowledge Him publicly. He points out how He called me often, but I denied him.
I grew up always saying my grace before, and after, any meal. Today, we encourage our children to do the same. My 3-year-old toddler keeps running to the Holy Water font during mass to bless himself – while I wonder if it’s to bless himself or play with the Holy Water, I’d like to believe it is the former!
But as I grew up and later began working, my grace before meals turned into the tiniest cross I could make over my heart – sometimes pretending that I was attending to a tiny itch there. “How to explain? People will start asking questions…”
I also did not bother trying to abstain from meat on Fridays. Again – “How to begin to explain?” It seemed easier to just go with the flow and reassure myself that it was not Lent and so it was ‘ok’!
Some years back, I had to organise a lunch between my CEO and my largest client – a Forbes-listed individual. Naturally, I checked if there were any dietary restrictions and was told my CEO would refrain from meat and would have fish. I just believed him to be one of those who stayed away from meat for health reasons.
Before lunch began, my CEO and the client were chatting. My CEO thanked the client for accommodating his dietary restrictions. He went on to share that he did consume meat but as it was a Friday, he would rather abstain from meat and have fish. He shared, “As a Catholic, I try as far as possible to abstain from meat on Friday to acknowledge the sacrifice that Jesus made on a Friday.”
My CEO then asked to be excused for a few minutes as he made the Sign of the Cross, bowed his head and prayed for a few moments.
Gosh, I was speechless! I was ready with my tiny ‘chest-itch-scratch’ but I too, made the Sign of the Cross, and gave thanks before eating.
I do not think I focused a lot during that lunch meeting. My thoughts were instead taking me back to all those times I had done that little ‘chest-itch-scratch’ or when I had even completely dispensed with it.
Lunch ended with the client quietly mentioning to my CEO that he is Catholic too, but has not been to a church in years. He received a warm smile and an assurance of prayers. I refuse to believe that there was not a small stirring in the client’s heart — the tiniest of seeds planted and left for Our Father to nurture.
Brothers and sisters, it would never be out of meanness or spite that Jesus denies anyone, but I cannot help but appreciate what spectacular extremes we see in 2 continuous lines of the Gospel! The King of Glory will be our final and fairest judge; and that right He earned, with the price of His own blood.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Gerard Francis)
Prayer: We pray for the grace and courage to bear witness to our Heavenly Father publicly by our words and actions.
Thanksgiving: We give thanks to our Heavenly Father for His graces to help guide us in our earthly journey.
OXYGEN 
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