“Avoiding ‘harbouring’ of evil; instead, enthroning the Divine Mercy of the Lord in our hearts!”

(Based on Amos 7:10-17 and Mt 9:1-8 – Thursday of the 13th Week in Ordinary Time, Year 2)

“Harbour” is a place on the coast, where ships may moor in shelter…
… especially one protected from rough water by piers, jetties, and other artificial structures.

The word “harbour” is also used to speak about a keep a thought or feeling, (typically a negative one) in one’s mind, especially secretly

The Gospel of the Day is an expose by Jesus, on how a group of people “harbour” wrong thoughts in the mind.

It is an exposition of this evil side of life that often empowers human hearts…
… and pops its head up, especially when encountered by goodness and holiness.

The Gospel is the healing of the paralytic, when Jesus comes into His own town.

Seeing the paralytic being brought on the stretcher, and admiring their faith, Jesus had said, “Courage child, your sins are forgiven” (Mt 9: 2)

However, some of the scribes got irked hearing these words and said, “This man is blaspheming”

But Jesus, who knows the hearts of people…. who reads the thoughts of all.. said:
“Why do you think evil in your hearts?” (Mt 9: 4)

Another translation of this verse would read:
“Why do you harbour evil in your hearts?”

The Lord exposes the evil intention of the Scribes in questioning His action of cleansing the paralytic.

For the paralytic, it was a great moment…
… of being cleansed from sin, and being restored to holiness
… of having a very personal encounter of the Saviour and receiving wholeness

It was a sacred time…
… a holy instant!

But where there is the presence of Holiness, evil finds itself disturbed and distances itself!

Evil cannot exist beside the Sacred!

Human life often finds itself engaged and engrossed with evil things…

The pull to be bad constantly lurks in human minds…
The urge to be sinful often prowls in human hearts…

Therefore, when the paralytic was encountering goodness and holiness…
.. the evil side in the scribes popped its head up, and questioned and quizzed our Blessed Lord.

The same question that Jesus asked the scribes is now thrown to us:
“Why do you think evil in your hearts?” or “Why do you harbour evil in your hearts?”

Am I a person who is unable to tolerate the good things happening in other people’s life
Am I someone who gets irked and irritated when the other person prospers in happiness?

We sometimes adorn the walls of our hearts with many filthy stuff…
… uncharitable thoughts, indecent words and jokes
… hurtful views of people or crude perspectives of situations.

The Lord feels hurt and sad by this our “harbouring of evil in our hearts”

Are we ready to throw of all those unbecoming stuff from our hearts…
… and place the Divine Mercy of the Lord, enthroned in our hearts?

God Bless! Live Jesus!

---

📖 Discovering the beauty of the Catholic Church through the Catechism
MAN’S VOCATION LIFE IN THE SPIRIT – GOD’S SALVATION: LAW AND GRACE – GRACE AND JUSTIFICATION

Just as you once yielded your members to impurity and to greater and greater iniquity…
… so now yield your members to righteousness for sanctification
But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God…

… the return you get is sanctification and its end, eternal life. (CCC # 1995)