Thursday of the 7th Week of Easter

I believe all of us would have experienced some issue at some point of our lives, due to misunderstanding, differences in opinion, or some other criteria. Some of the issues we may have experienced may seem significant or serious, but sometimes necessarily so, especially since our minds may have become too fixated or closed to see the bigger picture, and we begin to squabble over petty things or trivial matters. When we are like this, we lose sight of our true purpose as Christians and end up wasting much time and energy over such petty things or trivial matters.

The Pharisees and the Sadducees had a problem with Paul. They were obstinate and refused to change when Jesus was around, and they were also equally obstinate with Paul. So Paul decided to shake things up a bit and demonstrate their narrow-mindedness. Paul pitted the scribes and Pharisees against the Sadducees by exclaiming: "Brothers, I am a Pharisee and the son of Pharisees. It is for our hope in the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial." When he said this, the scribes and the Pharisees ganged up against the Sadducees and argued over differences of opinion which had nothing to do with why Paul was being arrested and put on trial in the first place. This shows that, the core issue which the scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees had against Paul, was actually not really a big deal after all, since they could be so easily distracted with other things.

What about us? Have we become like the Pharisees and the Sadducees? Have we become so easily distracted by small matters or petty things, and neglected to address the bigger or more serious matters? May we learn to see the big picture, and free ourselves from such narrow-mindedness, so that we can truly live Christian lives, with love towards God and neighbour.