Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 23, 23-26
Jesus said:
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin,
and have neglected the weightier things of the law:
judgment and mercy and fidelity.
But these you should have done, without neglecting the others.
Blind guides, who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel!“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You cleanse the outside of cup and dish,
but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence.
Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup,
so that the outside also may be clean.”
Do not forget the essentials
1. Money more than life. This is a characteristic of the Pharisees. Today, we can also stumble like they did, believing that you can buy God with money. No! God asks you to grow in mercy and justice, or else you can fall into the “Don Corleone Syndrome”. Remember that in the movie, the godfather always helped the church in Sicily but then he would assassinate many people. We shouldn’t have that hypocritical attitude. If we participate in the parish church or a religious movement, we cannot, at the same time, kill people with criticism and gossip. You might also kill others with your attitude of indifference or envy. Please don’t allow yourself to live this way, it’s painful and unrewarding.
2. Pick out the gnat and eat the camel. How many times do we falter in our faith thinking we are the owners of the truth? We become unbearable to others considering they should comply with certain rules, but we are permissive with ourselves. It’s sad to see others, or even ourselves, use religion to feel like lords and masters instead of remembering that we are simple servants.
3. Blind. Today we live blindly. We question everything and we believe we are the owners of public opinion. We have an opinion about everything, even about what we don’t know, and we love to question everyone. We are not the owners of the truth! St. Augustine said, “Late have I loved you, beauty so old and so new: late have I loved you.” To love God is to remember that one becomes eternal, and that Christian life is shared, not imposed. If you work to be a good Christian, you help others find God as well. St. Augustine also said: “You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in You.”
Never forget that something good is on the way!
God bless you and be with you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
