August 23, 2014 - WARNING VS HYPOCRISY Saturday 20TH Week in Ordinary Time [St. Rose of Lima] Ez 43: 1-7ab / Ps 85: 9ab and 10, 11-12, 13-14 / Mt 23: 1-12 Reading: Ez 43: 1-7ab He took me to the gate, facing east. Then I saw the Glory of the God of Israel approaching from the east with a sound like the sound of the ocean, and the earth shone with his Glory. This vision was like the one I had seen when he came for the destruction of the city, and like the one I had seen on the bank of the river Chebar. Then I threw myself to the ground. The Glory of Yahweh arrived at the Temple by the east gate. The spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court: the Glory of Yahweh was filling the House. And I heard someone speaking to me from the Temple while the man stood beside me. The voice said, Son of man, you have seen the place of my throne, where I will place the soles of my feet, and live among the Israelites forever. Gospel: Matthew 23:1-12 - Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: The teachers of the Law and the Pharisees sat on the seat of Moses. So you shall do and observe all they say, but do not do as they do, for they do not do what they say. They tie up heavy burdens and load them on the shoulders of the people, but they do not even raise a finger to move them. They do everything in order to be seen by people; so they wear very wide bands of the Law around their foreheads, and robes with large tassels. They enjoy the first place at feasts and reserved seats in the synagogues, and being greeted in the marketplace and being called Master by the people. But you, do not let yourselves be called Master because you have only one Master, and all of you are brothers and sisters. Neither should you call anyone on earth Father, because you have only one Father, he who is in heaven. Nor should you be called leader, because Christ is the only leader for you. Let the greatest among you be the servant of all. For whoever makes himself great shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be made great. Reflection: - BEING FIRST ? OR LAST ? - The slogan to go by : Walk the talk .... a common expression nowadays arising from the articulateness and the gab of man, his eloquence on verbal communication and journalistic prowess. But then going up the higher plane where we meet the Creator, when He finally communicates to us the end question below, can we readily give a satisfactory answer to Him ? Do the words that you say conform to the way you act and the way you live? Jesus rebukes the Pharisees for being hypocrites for they know all the teachings and memorize all the biblical verses, but they dont do what they believe in. Faith without action is dead. These teachers need to walk the talk. Jesus pointed out that over and above the knowledge of religion is the act of love. The whole point of BEING A CHRISTIAN IS TO LOVE GOD & TO LOVE OTHERS. Without that, were nothing. We need to reach out to others than just be content in our comfortable positions. How to Love ? With our every breath we already know how. Jesus also points out the importance of HUMILITY & FORGIVENESS. Even if he was called master by his apostles, he did not want to be served by them. He came to serve as shown when he washed the feet of his apostles during the last supper. He told them to do as he was doing to them. Then he suffered mockery under Pontius Pilate but remained meek and humble. He was crucified like a criminal, but he forgave his enemies. He did all this to save from our sinfulness. We are reminded to learn from Jesus servant leadership. Let the greatest among you be the servant of all. For whoever makes himself great shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be made great. Pagmamahal, pagmamalasakit sa kapwa.... Panginoon, tulungan mo kami na magawa namin ito ng walang hinahangad na kapalit galing sa aming kapwa, bukod sa pagmamahal para sa amin galing sa Yo.
Posted on: Sat, 23 Aug 2014 04:53:38 +0000
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