GOD REWARDS GOOD AND PUNISHES EVIL.
September 29, 2024. Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time – B. Readings: Nm 11:25-29; Ps 19:8, 10, 12-13, 14; Jas 5:1-6; Mk9:38-43, 45, 47-48. “Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.” (Mark 9:41) An Estonian proverb says: “Who is good will be rewarded.” A Chinese proverb adds: “Good will be rewarded with good and evil with evil; it is only a matter of time.” There is a very famous psychological theory that is used in education, mostly as a teaching method. It is about rewards and punishment. It is also well known as operant conditioning. Operant conditioning, sometimes called instrumental conditioning or Skinnerian conditioning, is a learning method that uses rewards and punishment to modify behavior. Through operant conditioning, behavior that is rewarded is likely to be repeated, while behavior that is punished is prone to happen less. Simply put, it is about provoking the apprentice t