God had Elijah tell Ahab that there would be no rain in the land except at his (Elijah’s) word. The drought was long and painful. But the man of God knew that the time had come for rain. In today’s first reading, we see how this came about. Finally, with a cloud that started out “as small as a man’s hand rising from the sea,” the rains came.
In the Gospel reading today, we’re back in Matthew 5, the Sermon on the Mount. Today we hear Jesus talk about how destructive it is to hold a grudge agains another. “But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgement, and whoever says to his brother, Raqa, will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna.” He then goes on to say how we must lose these grudges before we go offer our gift at the altar.
Many years ago one of my sisters and I had a revelation about just how destructive grudges were in our lives. We made a pact that we would no longer hold grudges. That pact has always stuck with me. Jesus knew that when we hold grudges, we are not holding another person in bondage. We are keeping ourselves in chains. Bearing grudges stunts our spiritual growth. It slowly sucks the life out of us as we climb deeper and deeper into the dungeon of resentment. Are you holding on to a grudge today? Ask God to help you let it go, that you may be free.
Father, show us those grudges in our lives that we refuse to let go of. Break the chains that hold us bound, and free us from resentment, that we might live and love more fully. Amen.
0 comments