Dear friends,
Hope you made the week. The week was a test for all of us about our strength of will and mind. The long hard cold days are now gone and we have better weather now. Thank God that we have made it to the weekend. Hopefully, this stays long. This was a really very hard time.
Before writing this, I was inside the house and I was looking outside. The scenery was so gorgeous. The sight outside was very pleasant and it looked very sunny and bright. Because it looked so sunny and bright, I even felt very pleasant. I even thought it would be warmer too. I wanted to go outside to enjoy the sun and its brightness and also the warmth of the sun. But at the very moment I opened my door I was hit by a very very cold wind. I was taken aback and shut the door fast and ran inside and sat in the chair. The sight outside walls so deceptive that it made me think it was warm too outside. But it was as cold as we even could not imagine.
This is how things happen in our lives too. Most of the times the bad things look prettier and more pleasant than anything else in the world. Naturally, the good things seem not so pretty and pleasant. We always look for what is prettier and more pleasant even if it is not a good one. This is how more often we fall to the deception.
For example, the commercials on the media today show us something beautiful and seemingly pleasant. Though the products may not have the same quality as they are advertised, they want to make their products look good and pleasant. Because they look good and pleasant people tend to buy them. Only after they buy them, people understand that it was a deception and that they were deceived.
Even in the Old Testament, the same thing happened with Eve. She saw that “the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and the tree was desirable for gaining wisdom” (Gen:3:6). And so, the woman, Eve took some of its fruit and ate it and she gave some to her husband too and he also ate it. We know what happened after they ate the fruits of the forbidden tree. It is interesting to note that the whole tree looked beautiful to the eyes of Eve, who was already enticed by the flowery words of Satan.
This is what is the reality. Most of the time all evil things are portrayed as super good and very supremely useful. These are all deceptions, if we are less cautious. That is why Jesus warns us to “be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves” (Mt: 10:16). We need a lot of prudence in this world of consumerism and we need to be shrewd as Jesus warns us. We will see too many things as beautiful and pleasant that we cannot resist. Even in spiritual life, we need to be cautious, because the temptations seem good and pleasant. Let us ask Him to give us the Holy Spirit, the source of Wisdom and prudence.
Sincerely yours in Christ Jesus,
Fr. A. Antony
Hope you made the week. The week was a test for all of us about our strength of will and mind. The long hard cold days are now gone and we have better weather now. Thank God that we have made it to the weekend. Hopefully, this stays long. This was a really very hard time.
Before writing this, I was inside the house and I was looking outside. The scenery was so gorgeous. The sight outside was very pleasant and it looked very sunny and bright. Because it looked so sunny and bright, I even felt very pleasant. I even thought it would be warmer too. I wanted to go outside to enjoy the sun and its brightness and also the warmth of the sun. But at the very moment I opened my door I was hit by a very very cold wind. I was taken aback and shut the door fast and ran inside and sat in the chair. The sight outside walls so deceptive that it made me think it was warm too outside. But it was as cold as we even could not imagine.
This is how things happen in our lives too. Most of the times the bad things look prettier and more pleasant than anything else in the world. Naturally, the good things seem not so pretty and pleasant. We always look for what is prettier and more pleasant even if it is not a good one. This is how more often we fall to the deception.
For example, the commercials on the media today show us something beautiful and seemingly pleasant. Though the products may not have the same quality as they are advertised, they want to make their products look good and pleasant. Because they look good and pleasant people tend to buy them. Only after they buy them, people understand that it was a deception and that they were deceived.
Even in the Old Testament, the same thing happened with Eve. She saw that “the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and the tree was desirable for gaining wisdom” (Gen:3:6). And so, the woman, Eve took some of its fruit and ate it and she gave some to her husband too and he also ate it. We know what happened after they ate the fruits of the forbidden tree. It is interesting to note that the whole tree looked beautiful to the eyes of Eve, who was already enticed by the flowery words of Satan.
This is what is the reality. Most of the time all evil things are portrayed as super good and very supremely useful. These are all deceptions, if we are less cautious. That is why Jesus warns us to “be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves” (Mt: 10:16). We need a lot of prudence in this world of consumerism and we need to be shrewd as Jesus warns us. We will see too many things as beautiful and pleasant that we cannot resist. Even in spiritual life, we need to be cautious, because the temptations seem good and pleasant. Let us ask Him to give us the Holy Spirit, the source of Wisdom and prudence.
Sincerely yours in Christ Jesus,
Fr. A. Antony
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