A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 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.”
Jesus speaks to both the crowds and the disciples about following God’s word and keeping a covenant with him. In the first reading, the Lord says, “Have we not all the one father? Has not the one God created us?” Yet, the Pharisees take the word of God and make it into a kind of prison of false piety performed to be seen and calling for honor. In the second reading, Saint Paul sets an example of what humility looks like as it is practiced in faith: “We were gentle among you, as a nursing mother cares for her children. . . . You recall, brothers and sisters, our toil and drudgery. Working night and day in order not to burden any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.” To quiet and still the soul to find peace in the Lord—what does that take?
Father in heaven, quiet my soul in the midst of this day to be able to see you present as the day unfolds. Open my eyes to see you in a way that comes not from busying myself with conspicuous achievements but in quietly serving others and working to unburden them. Place before me the work that brings to light the Gospel and gives glory to your name. Give me the grace, Lord, to bear your word and make you known in sharing my very self with others.
From the responsorial psalm: “O LORD, my heart is not proud, nor are my eyes haughty; I busy not myself with great things, nor with things too sublime for me. In you, Lord, I have found my peace.”
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.