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.”
Justice
1. Hypocrisy. A thinker once said: “I’m more afraid of cowards, and traitors; of hypocrites who say things they don’t mean just to fit in. Critics and whiners who are never happy and bring no joy. Those who claim to love you but don’t, those who say they’re with you but are secretly against you. I don’t want those people in my life. I prefer people who are brave enough to be authentic, with all their flaws, faults, and shadows.” That’s why today I ask you, ‘What kind of people do you accept in your life?’
2. Blind. Sometimes we reduce everything to our emotional life and forget about all the other things we have. For example, someone might not have a partner and say, “I’m alone.” When in reality, you’re not alone; you just don’t have a partner. But because you become blinded and reduce everything to that one thing, you forget everything else you have: a job, coworkers, friends, parents, siblings, nieces and nephews, projects, a whole lot of things. Yet, just because you’re not in a relationship, you declare, “I’m alone”. This clearly shows the emotional importance a partner holds for you. It’s almost as if having a partner is mandatory, because society often pushes you towards that. Otherwise, you’re seen as weird or strange. So you become blind and forget about many things. But then there are also people who have a partner who absorbs all their time. They have no friends, they don’t see their family, they don’t work, and they only have that partner, and they seem not to feel alone just because they have one. Sometimes, you’re the one who creates your own blindness.
3. Greed. Sometimes we have this drive to want to have everything. And greed is about relentlessly pursuing something or someone. The problem is that greed leads to envy, and envy combined with greed can lead to obsession. When you’re obsessed with someone or something, you don’t just want to have and keep them; you also want to control them. And that’s where the danger lies. That’s why the key is to remember that balance and moderation in all things brings relief and freedom. Extremes, even religious ones, kill and suffocate.
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.
