Acts 6:8-15 / John 6:22-29
Fundamentalism can be defined as a strict adherence to the fundamental principles of any set of beliefs.
Religious fundamentalism can also be defined as such, and often there is the added intolerance of other views, and even opposition to other religions.
Religious fundamentalism breeds fanatics who will even use the name of God to oppress, to use force and even to kill.
In the 1st reading, we hear of religious fundamentalists from the Synagogue of Freedmen, who plotted against Stephen simply because what he did and said was a threat to their own religious beliefs and security.
And as the events unfold, those religious fundamentalists will eventually turn into fanatics who will just execute someone as if they were swatting a fly.
And yet they believe that they are doing it for God! But they forget that just as a tree is judged by its fruits, so it is for a religion.
If a religion is judged by its fruits, then in the gospel, Jesus said that our lives will be judged by the food that we are striving and working for.
Jesus told us not to work for food that cannot last, but to work for food that endures to eternal life.
In other words, are we contented and at peace with what we have done and with what we are doing?
It is not just about our religion but also about our lives. We can also be secular fundamentalists.
We can get fanatical when others do not agree with us or share our views and we go around persecuting them.
That is certainly not doing what God wants. What God wants of us is to believe in Jesus and walk in His way of love and bear fruits of peace and joy.