Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 23, 1-12

Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying,
“The scribes and the Pharisees
have taken their seat on the chair of Moses.
Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you,
but do not follow their example.
For they preach but they do not practice.
They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry
and lay them on people’s shoulders,
but they will not lift a finger to move them.
All their works are performed to be seen.
They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels.
They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues,
greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation ‘Rabbi.’
As for you, do not be called ‘Rabbi.’
You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers.
Call no one on earth your father;
you have but one Father in heaven.
Do not be called ‘Master’;
you have but one master, the Christ.
The greatest among you must be your servant.
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled;
but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

Serve and relieve

1. The Chair of Moses. Intellectual Phariseeism is one of the sins that most affects our Church, because it makes us feel that others are more sinful than we are, but added to that, it leads us to believe that we know more than others. And since we know about religious and biblical matters, we think that we have the right to boss others around, to judge and even hurt people in the name of God. Many times, we have felt we have the right to destroy brothers and sisters who are new to faith. We destroy them with our comments, and we manipulate the Word of God and even God Himself, making God say what we want, overpowering and controlling people of good faith, but maybe of low spiritual, biblical or moral understanding.

2. To be seen. Sadly, it’s very common to see people seeking to show off and doing marketing with the things of God, using God and people for their own benefit or for social status. Many times, we complain about politicians (of course not all of them), because they only appear every four years to be elected, but you and I also often appear only on certain occasions, for self-benefit. There is a great difference: people who help others from and for the love of God, do it from the heart, without thinking of their own benefit. Those who act out of narcissism, do it with the intention of benefitting themselves, taking advantage of others, considering them discardable.

3. Service. God shows you that the key to everything is service and that’s different from assistance. Assistance is helping without the presence of God in out actions, and without having a supernatural vision of what one is doing. Assistance does seek to help people, but not for the love of God. Service is selfless and carried out in the presence of God because those who serve give dignity to the people they serve, they are fulfilled by helping others, and do not expect anything in return. Those who serve know that they always give a new opportunity to the life of others, and they manage to see God in others. Those who serve know that they do not depend on others and do not make the people they serve dependent on them, but they know that service gives freedom to one and the other. We must be free to serve and serve in order to give freedom to others and to oneself.

Always remember that something good is on the way!  

God bless you and guard you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.