Motives

The WORD today (see http://usccb.org/bible/readings/040817.cfm) reminds me to check the motives of my actions

Motives are not always obvious. People may be doing something good, something seemingly noble, but the reasons behind it may not be as noble. Some people want to be praised by others. Some want to be in the limelight. While some have hidden interests for doing good, be it in business or politics. 

God sees the motives for our actions. 

In the gospel, we see chief priests and Pharisees discussing about Jesus. Why were they concerned? Why do they want to kill Jesus? Was it because he was doing something bad, or that they believe he was not a true son of God? Do they think he blasphemes and lead other people to sin? Unfortunately, not. They want to get rid of Jesus so they won’t have a threat to what they currently enjoy. They want him to die so no one will challenge them and expose the wrong that they are doing. They want to get rid of Jesus for their own evil motives.

You know nothing,
nor do you consider that it is better for you
that one man should die instead of the people,
so that the whole nation may not perish.

Caiaphas may seem like he has a noble intention. One man to die so the whole nation may be saved. But he has ulterior motives. Motives that other people may not see and know. Motives that God sees and knows. Motives that I too may have.

Actions do not always reveal the real intention or motives of a person. Only we (and God) know what’s in our hearts as we do things that people see. This is why it is important to always check our motives for doing things – is it for ourselves, that people may say good things about us and for us to feel good about ourselves, do we want to project a certain image; or is it really for God – to praise and glorify Him?

May we always be aware and conscious of our motives, and pray that glorifying God be our motive for doing things, not glorifying ourselves. 

Father God,

Thank you for today. Thank you for another day to live. Thank you for another weekend. Thank you for reminding me to check and examine my motives and intentions. Lord, sorry for the times I do things for different reasons. Sorry for wanting praise and affirmation from others, not from you. Lord, I know my heart can deceive even me, so I ask that you help me examine and purify my thoughts, purify my motives, purify my intentions. May I do things only for you, to honor and glorify you. Amen.

Blessed weekend!

In Christ,

-g-

Ps

See related reflections:

http://mysimplereflection.blogspot.com/2012/06/whats-your-motive.html
http://mysimplereflection.blogspot.com/2013/01/check-heart.html 

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April 8, 2017
Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent
Lectionary: 256

Reading 1 Ez 37:21-28

Thus says the Lord GOD:
I will take the children of Israel from among the nations
to which they have come,
and gather them from all sides to bring them back to their land.
I will make them one nation upon the land,
in the mountains of Israel,
and there shall be one prince for them all.
Never again shall they be two nations,
and never again shall they be divided into two kingdoms.

No longer shall they defile themselves with their idols,
their abominations, and all their transgressions.
I will deliver them from all their sins of apostasy,
and cleanse them so that they may be my people
and I may be their God.
My servant David shall be prince over them,
and there shall be one shepherd for them all;
they shall live by my statutes and carefully observe my decrees.
They shall live on the land that I gave to my servant Jacob,
the land where their fathers lived;
they shall live on it forever,
they, and their children, and their children's children,
with my servant David their prince forever.
I will make with them a covenant of peace;
it shall be an everlasting covenant with them,
and I will multiply them, and put my sanctuary among them forever.
My dwelling shall be with them;
I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Thus the nations shall know that it is I, the LORD,
who make Israel holy,
when my sanctuary shall be set up among them forever.

Responsorial Psalm Jer 31:10, 11-12abcd, 13

R. (see 10d) The Lord will guard us, as a shepherd guards his flock.
Hear the word of the LORD, O nations,
proclaim it on distant isles, and say:
He who scattered Israel, now gathers them together,
he guards them as a shepherd his flock.
R. The Lord will guard us, as a shepherd guards his flock.
The LORD shall ransom Jacob,
he shall redeem him from the hand of his conqueror.
Shouting, they shall mount the heights of Zion,
they shall come streaming to the LORD's blessings:
The grain, the wine, and the oil,
the sheep and the oxen.
R. The Lord will guard us, as a shepherd guards his flock.
Then the virgins shall make merry and dance,
and young men and old as well.
I will turn their mourning into joy,
I will console and gladden them after their sorrows.
R. The Lord will guard us, as a shepherd guards his flock.

Verse Before the Gospel Ez 18:31

Cast away from you all the crimes you have committed, says the LORD,
and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.

Gospel Jn 11:45-56

Many of the Jews who had come to Mary
and seen what Jesus had done began to believe in him.
But some of them went to the Pharisees
and told them what Jesus had done.
So the chief priests and the Pharisees
convened the Sanhedrin and said,
"What are we going to do?
This man is performing many signs.
If we leave him alone, all will believe in him,
and the Romans will come
and take away both our land and our nation."
But one of them, Caiaphas,
who was high priest that year, said to them,
"You know nothing,
nor do you consider that it is better for you
that one man should die instead of the people,
so that the whole nation may not perish."
He did not say this on his own,
but since he was high priest for that year,
he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation,
and not only for the nation,
but also to gather into one the dispersed children of God.
So from that day on they planned to kill him.

So Jesus no longer walked about in public among the Jews,
but he left for the region near the desert,
to a town called Ephraim,
and there he remained with his disciples.

Now the Passover of the Jews was near,
and many went up from the country to Jerusalem
before Passover to purify themselves.
They looked for Jesus and said to one another
as they were in the temple area, "What do you think?
That he will not come to the feast?"