MEDITATION TIPS (Episode 287)
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
January 18, 2026

“Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29)

　When we hear “takes away the sin of the world,” many may imagine the removal of a malignant tumor or the eradication of something evil. However, humans do not possess two hearts—one good and one evil. The heart is always one. Therefore, attempting to remove only the evil heart from within oneself risks removing the good heart along with it. Jesus’ teaching contains no ideology of destruction or eradication. Jesus’ teaching is always about creation, transformation, and regeneration. Thus, merely altering the flow at the source of the heart—that is, slightly changing one’s perspective—can transform evil into good, and hatred into love.

　People love stories. Because within stories, people see their own lives. There are countless fairy tales in the world. Fairy tales that leave a deep impression on a child’s heart often carry profound meaning throughout that person’s entire life. Among Aesop’s fables is “The North Wind and the Sun.” One day, the North Wind and the Sun decided to compete to see who was stronger. They agreed to compete by seeing who could make a traveler take off his coat. The North Wind tried to use its force to strip off the coat, but the harder it blew, the tighter the traveler clutched his coat to ward off the cold. Then the Sun began to warm the traveler steadily. Eventually, the traveler grew hot and took off his coat. This fable teaches us that what changes the human heart is not the North Wind’s forcefulness, but rather what the Sun symbolizes: love, joy, and hope.

　This same idea is deeply rooted in the spirituality of the Church. The desert monks of the early Church taught their disciples, who were devoted to ascetic practices, not to confront the devil directly. Confronting the devil directly requires a high level of spiritual maturity. However, ordinary people lack such advanced spirituality. Even if they think they have temporarily overcome the devil through asceticism, stronger temptations will soon attack, and they will ultimately be defeated by the devil. Instead, they taught: Keep your eyes fixed on God, who is light. Then, like ice melting, you will gradually but surely overcome the devil. Like “The North Wind and the Sun,” Jesus, who is the Sun, does not confront sin directly but “takes away the sin of the world” through love, joy, and hope.

　Moreover, “forgiveness,” inseparable from the battle against sin, was the central theme of Jesus’s ministry. Ancient China also had the adage, “Repay resentment with virtue,” found in the Analects and the teachings of Laozi. This is a golden rule: one must not hold grudges against those who wrong them, but instead bestow virtue upon them with a spirit of universal love. After World War II, when Chiang Kai-shek fled the Chinese Communist Party and established the Kuomintang government in Taiwan, the island was in a state of anarchy. Taiwan had been a Japanese colony for 50 years, and undoubtedly many Taiwanese suffered abuse and mistreatment at the hands of the Japanese during that time. Yet Chiang Kai-shek, citing this Chinese proverb, issued a proclamation regarding the treatment of Japanese nationals: “Do not repay hatred with hatred. Those who violate this shall be punished by death.” As a result, the 580,000 Japanese residing in Taiwan at the time were able to return safely to Japan. Now, as the possibility of a Taiwan contingency is discussed, I often recall these words of Chiang Kai-shek.

 　　　　　(Contributed by Father Yutaka Akabae)