Tag: Pharisees

“Blessed indeed will you be.” | Monday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 14:12-14)

Jesus said: “Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Jesus speaks in today’s Gospel to a leading Pharisee who invited him to dine at his home. He tells him not to invite those close to him in case they might invite him back and as a result have repayment. In telling the Pharisee to invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind, Jesus instructs him in the means of resurrection to eternal life with the Father. Three times Jesus mentions the notion of repayment in reference to its flow. Who does the Pharisee host, and what is expected in return? In what many forms does fear of repayment bind, and what does Jesus teach about hospitality and the flow of currency that leads to the banquet of eternal life?

Father in heaven, I don’t often see and am not accustomed to seeing the broken and destitute people Jesus names in the Gospel. Yet it is exactly those who are to be invited to the banquet. Jesus holds true to his word in that he invites the same to his banquet at every celebration of the Mass. In receiving the Eucharist, as I approach the body and blood of Christ before the altar, I become the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. In that sacrament I recognize my dependence on you for every good gift and invite the Holy Spirit to do what is necessary so that I become the body and blood of Christ that I consume. Give me the grace, Lord, to be Christlike to the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame in whatever guise I encounter them. And help me begin to see that they are right before me every day. “For the LORD hears the poor,” the psalmist writes, “and his own who are in bonds he spurns not.”

From the responsorial psalm: “But I am afflicted and in pain; let your saving help, O God, protect me. I will praise the name of God in song, and I will glorify him with thanksgiving. Lord, in your great love, answer me.”

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.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAaVQ82g2C4

“For they preach but they do not practice.” | Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time

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.

“The one who humbles himself will be exalted.” | Memorial of Saint Charles Borromeo, Bishop

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 14:1, 7-11)

At the home of one of the leading Pharisees, Jesus told a parable to those who had been invited, noticing how they were choosing the places of honor at the table. “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not recline at table in the place of honor. A more distinguished guest than you may have been invited by him, and the host who invited both of you may approach you and say, ‘Give your place to this man,’ and then you would proceed with embarrassment to take the lowest place. Rather, when you are invited, go and take the lowest place.”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus teaches lessons on humility and the importance of avoiding seeking honor and recognition. As he tells the parable, he shows those who listen to choose the lower place rather than the places of honor at a table. Jesus says: “Go and take the lowest place so that when the host comes to you he may say, ‘My friend, move up to a higher position. . . .’ For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” With the supreme model of humility given to us by Christ in his complete self-emptying on the cross in obedience to the Father, we have every means available to humble ourselves before others and before God.

Father in heaven, meet me where I am today in my desire to purge myself of seeking honor at whichever table honor has a place. I often take the long way to humility when I would do better to take the short way; that is, help me abandon the habits of defensiveness, arrogance, and judgment that inhibit me from humbling myself. Give me the grace to hold my tongue when I have the impulse to uphold what is better to let go of; come to my aid, God, in following the example of your Son.

From the Gospel acclamation: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, For I am meek and humble of heart.” Saint Charles Borromeo, pray for us.

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.

“Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath or not?” | Friday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 14:1-6)

On a sabbath Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees, and the people there were observing him carefully. In front of him there was a man suffering from dropsy. Jesus spoke to the scholars of the law and Pharisees in reply, asking, “Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath or not?” But they kept silent; so he took the man and, after he had healed him, dismissed him.

After Jesus dismisses the man, he says: “‘Who among you, if your son or ox falls into a cistern, would not immediately pull him out on the sabbath day?’ But they were unable to answer his question.” Luke tells us that Jesus dismisses the man after healing him and only then addresses the Pharisees. On his way and free of his illness, the man who suffered no longer suffers, but the Pharisees and scholars of the law are unable to answer, silenced in the hypocrisy they are bound by. The answer to the question Jesus asks them is in the affirmative. But they are unable to affirm what they know is true. Jesus heals the suffering man and invites the Pharisees to be healed in the truth of his mercy.

Father in heaven, help me understand today’s Gospel. In the darkness that sin casts over me, I am not far off from the scholars of the law and the Pharisees when I place strict observance over mercy or remain silent when I hear your voice. Help me live in your truth, in truth itself in the person of Jesus your Son. “I speak the truth in Christ,” Saint Paul writes. “I do not lie.” Let me do the same. Give me the grace of Christ’s healing presence in the Eucharist, and dismiss me today with a heart to love you and hands to serve you in knowing your truth and doing your will.

From the responsorial psalm: “My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord; I know them, and they follow me.”

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.

“You are set free of your infirmity.” | Monday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 13:10-17)

Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on the sabbath. And a woman was there who for eighteen years had been crippled by a spirit; she was bent over, completely incapable of standing erect. When Jesus saw her, he called to her and said, “Woman, you are set free of your infirmity.” He laid his hands on her, and she at once stood up straight and glorified God.

Today’s Gospel could end as the woman stands up straight and glorifies God. It’s a joyful moment that captures the imagination and could stand on its own apart from the rest of the passage. Yet, Luke goes on to convey even more to take to heart, showing us Jesus’ act of mercy in the right place at the right time. Despite witnessing a miracle, the leader of the synagogue criticizes Jesus for healing the woman on the sabbath when there are six other days to cure her. Calling out his hypocrisy, Jesus says to him: “This daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound for eighteen years now, ought she not to have been set free on the sabbath day from this bondage?” In his Father’s house and on the sabbath, in his mercy Jesus desires to free her from her illness, from bondage to the flesh. As Saint Paul says in the first reading, “Brothers and sisters, we are not debtors to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.”

Father in heaven, help me live with a spirit of adoption as your child, a joint heir with Christ your Son. On my own, a sinner, I fall into the bondage of sin. That’s no way to live. Let me be led to you again and again, calling you to mind. Give me the grace to recognize how your will moves throughout the day so that I can live according to it, free from fear to worship you and give you glory. Just as Jesus acted freely in the right place at the right time, help me today see where your mercy is needed and be a means of freeing others.

From the Gospel acclamation: “Your word, O Lord, is truth; consecrate us in the truth.” Abba, Father, let me live in your truth!

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.

“Which commandment in the law is the greatest?” | Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 22:34-40)

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a scholar of the law tested him by asking, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus responds to a Pharisee, who comes to test him. Having heard that Jesus silenced the Sadducees, he comes to Jesus to contend with him, to measure Jesus’ knowledge of the law against his own overinflated view of himself. In what way did Jesus silence the Sadducees, who did not believe in the resurrection? One can only imagine that Jesus’ reply to the Pharisee silences him as well when he says: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.” In what particular way does Jesus, the same Lord who hears the cry of the poor, invite us to imitate his love and compassion?

Father in heaven, as I consider the words “with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind,” I am overwhelmed with this high calling to love you. Without that kind of love, it is impossible to turn to others and love them as myself. Give me the grace to be compassionate to others as a way to dwell in the freeing love you command me to follow. In turn, help me love you completely so that I know in word and deed what it is to love my neighbor as myself. Here is where trust is vital. As in the responsorial psalm, I ask you to be my strength: “I love you, O LORD, my strength, O LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer.”

From the Gospel acclamation: “Whoever loves me will keep my word, says the Lord, and my Father will love him and we will come to him.”

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.

Thursday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 24:42-51)

Jesus said to his disciples: “Stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”

Jesus tells the disciples to be vigilant for the coming of the Son of Man. In the first reading, Saint Paul in his Letter to the Thessalonians echoes the Lord’s words: “And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all . . . so as to strengthen your hearts, to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his holy ones.” Today’s readings speak to the importance of vigilance and faithful stewardship in relation to the Second Coming and final judgment of Christ.

Father in heaven, help me remember to return to you throughout the day in awareness of your presence. Give me the grace to be vigilant today and every day of the coming of your Son. Help me live out each day with a sense of urgency, faithfully taking responsibility for your gifts and living in accordance with your will. Bless me with your care, and make me an instrument of your love and mercy.

From the responsorial psalm: “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain wisdom of heart. Return, O LORD! How long? Have pity on your servants!”

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.

Wednesday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 23:27-32)

Jesus said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of filth. Even so, on the outside you appear righteous, but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing.”

Jesus judges incisively the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, yet the Son of God is the Just Judge. The words Jesus chooses to address the Pharisees likens them to tombs and what is inside them. He describes the ghastly appearance of death, the death of those who live a life of whitewashed appearances, a life of feigned holiness. “Thus you bear witness against yourselves,” Jesus tells them, “that you are the children of those who murdered the prophets.” But as the responsorial psalm makes clear, there is nothing hidden that God cannot see: “If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall hide me, and night shall be my light’–For you darkness itself is not dark, and night shines as the day.”

God, help me understand the relevance of today’s Gospel. Your word is at work in me now, as Saint Paul says, yet I often choose to put on appearances and be on guard to uphold my self-image, the edifice I have built and shore up for the sake of others. Jesus cuts deep only to heal when he calls out arrogance and hypocrisy for the spiritual decay that results: “full of dead men’s bones and every kind of filth.” Give me the grace to abandon what is futile and foolish and do what is pleasing to you. Help me see that in the light of your presence there is no place to hide. Teach me, God, to love you, through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son.

From the first reading: “And for this reason we too give thanks to God unceasingly, that, in receiving the word of God from hearing us, you received it not as the word of men, but as it truly is, the word of God, which is now at work in you who believe.”

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.

Memorial of Saint Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 23:13-22)

Jesus said to the scribes and Pharisees: “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.”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus continues his rebuke of the scribes and Pharisees, focusing on their hypocrisy and their distortion of religious practices. Certain aspects of their teachings are exaggerated while at the same time they restrict others from access to God’s kingdom. Jesus exposes their manipulation of oaths, where they prioritize material possessions over the sacredness of the sanctuary itself. Jesus calls out their distorted priorities and their failure to grasp the true significance of prayer and worship.

God, help me distinguish between creature and creator, between what is for use in this world and what is of you. Keep me from prioritizing the things of this world, things that in themselves are good but meant to occupy only a limited space—money, material goods, food, pleasure, entertainment—to name a few. Give me the grace to make distinctions that keep me in your presence. Teach me to be compassionate and loving in fidelity to you. Through your grace, let me be a temple of the Holy Spirit, making my being a place fit for the dwelling your Spirit.

From the Gospel acclamation: “My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord; I know them, and they follow me.” Saint Augustine, pray for us!

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.

Friday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 12:1-8)

Jesus said to the Pharisees: I say to you, something greater than the temple is here. If you knew what this meant, I desire mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned these innocent men. For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath.”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus responds to the Pharisees, who are critical of his disciples. As they were going through a field of grain on the Sabbath, they became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them. The Pharisees accuse Jesus and the disciples of doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath. Jesus challenges the rigidity of the Pharisees in their imposing the Sabbath laws. As Lord of the Sabbath, Lord of all, Jesus emphasizes that the Sabbath was made not to burden or restrict man but to benefit him. “I desire mercy, not sacrifice,” Jesus tells them, placing mercy and compassion over strict legalistic observance.

God, help me see and avoid imposing codes of conduct in the same way the Pharisees did and instead be a means to others of your mercy, compassion, and your work on earth. Help me understand that you made all things for our benefit and to accept that with love and reverence for your will. Give me greater understanding of the identity and mission of your Son. Help me recognize his divinity in the Eucharist so that in taking the body and blood of Christ, I become more and more like him.

Lord, help me receive and pass on the mercy you desire for me. From the Gospel acclamation: “My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord, I know them, and they follow me.”

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.