Which Portals Are You Opening? God’s Gifts or Demons?
In today’s Gospel, Jesus points to one of the ways we all leave ourselves open to either good or bad …
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
“Stop judging and you will not be judged.
Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.
Forgive and you will be forgiven.
Give and gifts will be given to you;
a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing,
will be poured into your lap.
For the measure with which you measure
will in return be measured out to you.” (Luke 6:36-38)
This Gospel gets to the questions: What portals are we opening ourselves to? Are we inviting God’s gifts or the devil’s demon’s? Free will allows us to open to one or the other. These are portals for God’s amazing grace, or the devil’s diabolical destruction.
In our times, easy access porn has made men like swiss cheese, in terms of open portals to demonic spirits, finding easy access into them and into their homes. But, even more common is our own propensity to judge others and/or hold out unforgiveness.
Some may give themselves a big ole pass, in this regard, by stating that they do not really hate anyone. Yet, this propensity to judge or lack forgiveness is common, by the way we decide to treat others. While we may “say” we have forgiven others, are we curt and brusque with those who have offended us? Do we even disparage them, behind their backs? This opens a portal to demons.
What about those who are not in our “circle”? Are they in some way “beneath” us? Do we treat strangers as though they may as well not exist? Are we brusque with them? This opens a portal to demons.
What we need to do is ask ourselves: “How do we treat people we believe are important?” And then ask, “why should they get the effort of our graciousness, while others do not?”
For example, I am always super-gracious around bishops. I just feel that is appropriate. Then, I need to ask myself why I am “low (or no) energy gracious” around my neighbor? In essence, I am judging my neighbor as “not qualifying” for my “super-graciousness.”
Jesus teaches, “Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you.” Would we want to be treated in a blunt and curt and unfriendly way by others? Wouldn’t we appreciate “super-graciousness” from others? Then, we should be “super-gracious” … to even the least among us.
What portals do we want open? Portals to the dastardly demons? Or, portals to God’s amazing gifts given to us; “a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing (meaning, more than we could ever imagine!) will be poured into your lap” when you are not gauging others as “unworthy of your graciousness.”
So, never forget … “For the measure with which you measure, will in return be measured out to you.”
