From the responsorial psalm: “Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all you lands. Sing to the LORD; bless his name. Proclaim God’s marvelous deeds to all the nations.”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 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.”
What Jesus says to the crowds and to his disciples, he says to everybody. Through their authority, the scribes and Pharisees have prevented people from entering the kingdom of heaven. In putting up obstacles, they open up paths to other spiritual realities and fail to find God’s presence. Where God is present, that is the path to follow, the way to the kingdom, whether here or in heaven. “You blind ones,” Jesus says to the scribes and Pharisees, “which is greater, the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred?” Paul’s letter describes an attitude of love and thanksgiving, which opens the doors to the kingdom of heaven. What opportunities does God present to us today to open the doors to his kingdom?
God, help make me worthy of your calling to “bring to fulfillment every good purpose and every effort of faith.” There are times when it is hard to get past the barriers that present themselves during the day, whether self-imposed or beyond my control. I want to gain admittance to your kingdom, here on earth and in the life of the world to come. Help me desire this more and more, Lord, for the sake of your glory. I have nothing to give you that you haven’t given me first, the giver of all good gifts. With my effort of faith, take from me all I do have, and in your mercy break it and bless it as I seek to enter your kingdom.
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.