Thursday of the 2nd Week of Easter

Supposing your parents were to ask you to carry out a task which would make them happy, and the task is okay in matters of faith and morals. Quite likely you would get the task done, since you would want to maintain a good relationship with your parents. Likewise, supposing your boss in the company you work in asks you to carry out certain tasks for the benefit of the company, and such a task is also okay in matters of faith and morals. Once again, you would probably get the task done, since by doing so, you might get a good job review or evaluation, and you might stand a good chance to get a salary raise or move up the career ladder. Sounds so far so good, isn't it?

But what if you are put in a quandary? What if your parents demand that you do something that would make them happy, but by doing so, you would be breaking God's commandments and the laws of the church? For example, your wife has conceived but the foetus has been found to have some sort of defect, and your parents feel that having such a baby would be an embarrasment to the family honour, and so your parents have demanded that the foetus be aborted to "safe face" and protect the family interests. Would you do as what your parents have demanded? Likewise, supposing your boss demands that you conduct certain unscrupulous tasks, such as sabotaging a rival company's products, or coming up with statements or claims to put down or belittle a rival company's reputation or products, all for the sake of eliminating the competition. Would we do as our boss says?

We hope that we would not have the misfortune of being confronted with such difficult choices, or face such dilemmas as mentioned. But sometimes, life does give us such tough situations and we need to make a choice or take a stand. In today's reading, we are reminded that "Obedience to God comes before obedience to men." In reality, when confronted with such difficult decisions, would we truly, honestly and unreservedly choose to obey God, or would we succumb to obeying men, just to save face, or to save our skin? Whatever choice we make, may we choose wisely, for our eternal future is at stake.