Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 23, 13-22
Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples:
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You lock the Kingdom of heaven before men.
You do not enter yourselves,
nor do you allow entrance to those trying to enter.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You traverse sea and land to make one convert,
and when that happens you make him a child of Gehenna
twice as much as yourselves.
“Woe to you, blind guides, who say,
‘If one swears by the temple, it means nothing,
but if one swears by the gold of the temple, one is obligated.’
Blind fools, which is greater, the gold,
or the temple that made the gold sacred?
And you say, ‘If one swears by the altar, it means nothing,
but if one swears by the gift on the altar, one is obligated.’
You blind ones, which is greater, the gift,
or the altar that makes the gift sacred?
One who swears by the altar swears by it and all that is upon it;
one who swears by the temple swears by it
and by him who dwells in it;
one who swears by heaven swears by the throne of God
and by him who is seated on it.”
Open the doors
1) The doors. This is a very complex issue which I have started to analyze and have even made some self-criticism about this. I mean, of course, the issue of priests and people committed to the Church that close doors instead of opening them. We apologize for closing the doors to the Church, which is your family, your home. We apologize for the times you went to confession and instead of receiving comfort you received reprimand after reprimand. Forgive us because we even rebuked you for not knowing the act of contrition. Forgive us for closing the doors when a person from the parish approached you the first time you went to the chapel and instead of welcoming you, they asked more questions of you than the secret service would have asked. Forgive us for the times that we looked at you angrily during Mass when your young child cried, and we made you feel that your child bothered us. Forgive us, dear teenager, for when you declined abortion and had the courage to keep your baby, we expelled you from the parish school because we thought you were not a good example. Instead of thanking you for your courage, and helping you, we turned our backs on you. From today on, let’s keep the doors open. Let’s strive for everyone to be saved and let’s work so that Jesus can reach everyone.
2) Proselytism and fanaticism. These are the other issues that we must work on within the Church Instead of being a home and school of communion, sometimes the church turns into a sort of soccer championship in which each group is competing against the others – the only thing missing is that each group or parochial movement should wear their identifying soccer shirt! We are all on the same team, Heaven’s! But instead of thinking of what is best for the Church, we want our movement or group to be the best. The Church will not grow because of a greater number of members, but rather, through the service it offers based on prayer and humility. In Church we don’t evangelize through proselytism, but by attraction.
3) The means becomes the end. This is a third issue that we must work on. When the parish prioritizes earning money instead of winning over souls. This is what happens when you mix things up, when you go to Mass because you like the priest’s homily instead of going for Jesus and the Eucharist. We priests are merely a means to an end. This can also happen to you when you focus on making money for your home and family, but you do not enjoy either your home or your family.
Come on, open the doors! With Christ everything is possible, let’s open doors and let’s be a great family that welcomes and comforts everyone. Let’s not banish people. Let’s embrace them, help them clean up, and walk together with them.
Remember that something good is on the way!
God bless you, be with you and protect you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
