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.”
Woe to You and Me!
1. Hypocrites. Hypocrisy means wearing masks and acting your way through life. The problem is when your life becomes just about pretending or performing for others, making you forget who you truly are. When your life is merely an act, you slowly fade, losing your desires and passions, all to maintain something unreal that you yourself created. In life, masks eventually fall, even after this life is over.
2. Proselytes. When religion turns into proselytism, and we focus on gathering “chicks” around us, meaning people who become our followers and even flatterers, then all we build is a sham. We make others’ lives depend on us and revolve around us. When you seek “satellite” people, individuals who orbit you and are merely your subjects, unable to live or express themselves freely, all you achieve is to create a lifestyle where you use and destroy others’ lives. Don’t let your pride and selfishness make people dependent on you, making them feel needy when they distance themselves. Instead, help people gain tools for their own lives, so they know how to live their lives even when you’re not there.
3. Sacred. Remember that your life is sacred because you are a child of God. You are incredibly valuable, and you are no one’s toy or keychain. God loves you and gave His life for you. Let me share something that might help: “The boiling water didn’t kill the frog.” There’s a fable about a frog that jumped into a pot of cold water. Slowly, the water warmed up, and what was once cold was now lukewarm. The frog adapted to the temperature, swimming peacefully. But when the water reached its boiling point, the frog tried to jump out but couldn’t. It was too weak and tired from all the effort it had made to adapt to the temperature. Some might say the boiling water killed the frog, but what truly killed it was its inability to decide when to jump out. Don’t delay your moment to jump.
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.
