which is hypocrisy. Nothing is covered that will not be uncovered; or hidden, that will
not be made known. Whatever you have said in darkness will be heard in daylight, and what you
have whispered in hidden places, will be proclaimed from housetops.
I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who put to death the body and, after that, can do no more.
But I will tell you whom to fear: Fear the one who, after killing you, is able to throw you into hell. This
one you must fear. Don’t you buy five sparrows for two pennies? Yet not one of them has been
forgotten by God. Even the hairs of your head have been numbered. Don’t be afraid! Are you less
worthy in the eyes of God than many sparrows?
Reflect:
Curiously, right after speaking of God’s power to cast someone to hell, Jesus speaks of God’s
amazing care for humanity. This invites a brief reflection on hell. The concept of hell and its
eternal damnation does not exist in the Old Testament. Hell is a New Testament reality, made
possible only when one definitively rejects God’s mercy offered in and through Christ. Whereas
hell is a reality, we have no idea if anyone is definitively cast into it. It is significant that the Church
firmly declares, through beatification, that some souls are in heaven; yet she has never officially
declared that someone is damned in hell, not even the worst criminal in the world. But there is
one thing the Church knows and proclaims: that one person has surely gone to hell – Christ
himself! Christ’s descent into hell, which we proclaim in the Creed, is the very testimony of the
depth of the reach of God’s love and care for each of us.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2022