From the responsorial psalm: “Blessed the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked Nor walks in the way of sinners, nor sits in the company of the insolent, But delights in the law of the LORD and meditates on his law day and night. Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 11:42-46)
Then one of the scholars of the law said to him in reply, “Teacher, by saying this you are insulting us too.” And he said, “Woe also to you scholars of the law! You impose on people burdens hard to carry, but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them.”
Jesus denounces the Pharisees and the scholars of the law for their overemphasis of authority as they seek to maintain outward appearances. Externally, they appear to be reverent but inside are corrupt—as Jesus says, “like unseen graves.” But even in denunciation, Jesus calls them to love of something that transcends the law even as it brings it to fulfillment—love for God and attention to placing judgment in the hands of the Father. Where honor is given, there our heart is. If not to God, what do we give honor to in our words and actions?
God, all glory and honor is yours, for ever and ever. Even as I become more aware of you, Lord, in the faces of others, help me look to my interior life to make a place for you to stay. I give others room insofar as I take into account their needs, serve them, fall short, and try again. Teach me, then, to do the same for you as much as for others. If I hear and follow your voice, help me trust that good things will follow. As Saint Paul says, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” By this, Lord Jesus Christ, let me trust that you stand beside me and remain within.
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.
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