THE GATHERING

 

THE GATHERING

Years ago, when I was a young principal in a big school, relatively fresh from ordination, my first batch of high school graduates had a beautiful theme for their annual: The Gathering. I happened to be there when the same group celebrated their silver anniversary twenty-five years later. Sure enough, the prophetic write-up on “The Gathering” became the leitmotif of their celebrations. The Gathering that they thought of twenty-five years earlier was sort of prophetic. But the gathering it envisioned was one of mirth, of gratitude, of fellowship and brotherly camaraderie.

Today, the Gospel passage involving the dynamic duo of Pharisees and Sadducees—who had a conflicted relationship with each other and with everyone who ran counter to their ideas—suddenly found a common cause and “they gathered together.”

No. It was not for caring camaraderie and fellowship. It was to hatch up a plan to “test” the Lord. Finding someone they mutually hated, they pretended now to love one another and do something together. The question, designed to be a trap, became their own undoing. “Which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” The Lord’s answer became the standard on which their self-serving gathering was to be measured. It was about love for God, first and foremost. And it, too, was about love for neighbor as one loves oneself. But their gathering had to do with everything except love. It was designed to corner their common enemy and perhaps embarrass Him.

How many times have we gathered ostensibly to do something good but inwardly to gain something selfish and self-centered? How many times have we used memberships in clubs and groups as a passport to climb up the social ladder or to have a higher perch from which to look down at others? How often have we colluded with groups and other individuals to do harm to others or put them in a bad light? We gather not to grow together but to gain greater force to stifle others’ good initiatives, or to cast aspersions at their good intentions. Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB

---------- REFLECTION QUESTION ----------

What kind of gatherings do you go to?

Dearest God, purify my motivations for every action that I make. Amen.
Today, I pray for: _________________________