Wednesday, August 14, 2013 19th Week in Ordinary Time 1st Reading: Dt 34:1-12 Gospel: Matthew 18:15-20 Jesus said to his disciples, “If your brother or sister has sinned against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are in private, and if he listens to you, you have won your brother. If you are not listened to, take with you one or two others so that the case may be decided by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he still refuses to listen to them, tell it to the assembled Church. But if he does not listen to the Church, then regard such a one as a pagan or a publican. “I say to you: whatever you bind on earth, heaven will keep bound; and whatever you unbind on earth, heaven will keep unbound. “In like manner, I say to you: if on earth two of you are united in asking for anything, it will be granted to you by my heavenly Father. For where two or three are gathered in my Name, I am there among them.” D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE (Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience) Today’s Gospel ends with a message on unity. Apropos of this topic, Cebuanos remember the attempt to divide Cebu into three provinces. In May 2005 a resolution was passed by the Cebu Provincial Board with 8 in favor and 7 against the division. Cebu’s first lady governor, now Congresswoman Gwen Garcia, fought tooth and nail to unite rather than divide and preserve rather than mangle the province. What if God were likewise to be divided into three? No, this cannot be done. “Three gods” is an oxymoron because as Almighty, our God doesn’t share superlatives with anyone. Consider how funny a teenager would appear if he buys a dozen cards captioned: “To the sweetest girl in my life”. Language is yet to revise itself to allow more than one entity to occupy that singular place of honor reserved to the one possessing the superlative quality. Because God enjoys all superlatives, he is necessarily one. But we have a big problem with the Trinity. To have Three Persons and insist that there is only one God is to defy the mathematical principle of identity. Under this principle, a number is equal to no other but itself. Thus, three is three and not one, much as one is one and not three. Surely capitalists hate to see the day when there will be no difference between three billion and one billion! This argument albeit sound finds no application in God. The case of God is sui generis because in God alone the practice of love is perfect. Where love is perfect, there is no division but perfect unity. If Cebuanos are holding on to their identity as one and united province, we should be working harder for unity in Christian love so that God can absorb us into that Trinitarian Unity and so realize the Dream of the Father that all may be one (John 17:21). An idea of a “fournity” is not that bad! - Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email:dan.delosangeles@gmail. Website: frdan.org. Prayer for the day: God our Father, unite us in the bond of charity so that we may come one day to the inheritance reserved for those who belong to your family. Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Title: One In God
Posted on: Tue, 13 Aug 2013 22:14:05 +0000
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