Sheep and goats is a collective term. Most people cannot tell them apart. Especially sheep and goats in Asia and Africa. But shepherds know.
Blessed and cursed is a collective term. People, especially those who are so sure they are blessed, claim they know how to tell them apart. And they have Bible verses to prove it! Especially the blessed and the cursed in a world where 25000 children starve to death every day; where close to 6 billion people survive on 2 dollars a day; and where some people have 7 Mercedes Benzes because "God loves them so much God does not want them to experience vehicle coding."
But the Shepherd in the parable knows. Who are the real blessed ones and who are not. Not me. Nor you. Only the Shepherd knows how to separate them.
Those who were blessed did not expect to be blessed. And those who were not did not expect to be cursed. Their Bible verses did not help.
Every. One. Was. Surprised!
Don't forget this. Ever. God is a God of surprises!
Reading the Bible inside a Jeepney: Celebrating Colonized and Occupied Peoples' capacity to beat swords into ploughshares; to transform weapons of mass destruction into instruments of mass celebration; mortar shells into church bells, teargas canisters to flowerpots; rifle barrels into flutes; U.S. Military Army Jeeps into Filipino Mass Transport Jeepneys.
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LOST SHEEP, LOST COINS, AND LOST SONS
Many among us grew up with allegorical interpretations of the trio of parables in Sunday's Gospel Reading from Luke 15. The ...
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Filipinos and their Jeepneys (An Essay in Honor of Valerio Nofuente) “The western mind is so used to having everything planned ...
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Last words are important to many of us. Famous last words include Jose Rizal’s “Mi Ultimo Adios” and Antonio Luna’s “P---- Ina!” My late ...
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Friends, READING THE PARABLES OF JESUS INSIDE A JEEPNEY is now available in three formats at Amazon: Kindle , Paperback , and, as of Janua...
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