WORD 2day: Wednesday, 11th week in Ordinary time
June 17, 2020: 2 Kings 2:1, 6-14; Matthew 6: 1-6, 16-18
The only condition placed before Elisha, that he may receive a double share of the Spirit possessed by Elijah, was that Elisha should see Elijah being taken away by God. What does it really mean? The challenge here is not to miss what is central to whatever we are involved in, being distracted with the trivialities.
The Gospel places the same condition before us. The actions that we do will have their true value depending on the fact whether the centrality of the right element was ensured. What we do, will be judged only by the central motivation behind what is done and an unassailable focus that has to be in every thing that we do and we are in our life.
Praying, fasting and alms giving are the three actions mentioned in the Gospel today and they together epitomise the entire religious practice of a Jew. The point is: not to miss what is central to it in getting distracted with the trivialities of human recognition and immediate rewards. Yes, they are trivialities - human recognition and immediate rewards. But these have today taken the centre stage, leaving behind the real centralities.
In our relationship with ourselves, with others and with God, we are invited to pay attention to the most central of all concerns: to do what is most pleasing to God at a given instant. Any other concern is only a triviality, however good and practical it could be. The spiritual prudence that Jesus teaches us today is to stay clear of the trivialities and place God at the centre and at the core.