21st Week in Ordinary Time, Thursday

In today’s Gospel Our Lord concludes his criticism of the Pharisees with a call to vigilance in the service of God. The example of the master returning to evaluate his servant’s stewardship can not only be applied to when Our Lord returns in glory at the end of time, but also to when we are judged by him at the end of our earthly life. We are stewards of everything we have received, and we have received everything, even life itself: not only material possessions, but relationships, the time given us, and the talents we have received. We are stewards of these gifts and Our Lord has great expectations for us.

Like the faithful servant we will be rewarded for responsible stewardship. However, there are consequences if we are not responsible stewards of the possessions, relationships, time, and talents that we have received. These passing things can enslave us and make us forget our obligations, and part of the pain that results from making them the end instead of the means is being separated from them forever due to our irresponsibility, like and addict deprived of his drugs. Jesus today encourages the disciples to be faithful stewards of the gifts he’s bestowing on them, not like the Pharisees who have squandered those gifts for their own conceited benefit and will have them taken away.

Let’s take stock of life today and see what gifts Our Lord has bestowed upon us and how he would feel if today he came and asked us to make an account for how we’ve used them.

Readings: 1 Thessalonians 3:7–13; Psalm 90:3–5a, 12–14, 17; Matthew 24:42–51.

21st Week in Ordinary Time, Wednesday

In today’s Gospel Our Lord points out the irony that the Pharisees on the outside try to appear squeaky clean, but on the inside are hypocritical and evil. The Jews whitewashed tombs because if a Jew came near one or trod on one, he would be ritually defiled, even if he was unaware of it. In using this image Our Lord is warning his listeners that the whitewash the Pharisees have placed on themselves should put them on their guard as well if they don’t want to inadvertently defile themselves.

Hypocrisy even today is one of the greatest sins a person can commit, even for people who have no concept of sin–no one likes a hypocrite. People can try to present themselves as something more or something better than they are, and they seek legitimacy in any way possible. How many people through the Internet either try or imagine themselves to be what they’re not? Jesus reminds us today that God knows our hearts. If God knows us as we truly are, there’s no point in deluding ourselves into thinking that we can live a double life, to be one thing on the inside and another on the outside.

Let’s ask Our Lord today to help be who we are. When we stop trying to be what we’re not he can help us to explore the wealth of who we truly are.

Readings: 1 Thessalonians 2:9–13; Psalm 139:7–12b; Matthew 23:27–32.

21st Week in Ordinary Time, Tuesday

In today’s Gospel Our Lord puts us on guard against the danger of legalism, where laws are made for the sake of making laws, bureaucracy is the order of the day, and the purpose of the law doesn’t go much beyond bean counting in order to maintain an air of respectability. Our Lord doesn’t condemn laws; rather, he condemns losing sight of the purpose of those laws.

As he teaches us today, law’s purpose is judgment: to ensure that parties in conflict each receive what justice says is their due. Its purpose is mercy: to be fair to the party in the wrong, but to try and help him or her to become a good citizen again, not just fill prisons or government coffers. Finally, its purpose is fidelity: fostering solid bonds of solidarity between members of society at all levels: marriages, families, corporations, etc.–when someone breaks the law they should realize that they’ve failed in something expected of them to ensure the common good. Taxes on spices may be useful, but they’re not at the heart of the law.

We also need to examine laws to see whether they ensure just judgments, leave room for mercy, and foster fidelity. Let’s pray for our legislators that they have these principles in mind when drafting laws, and let’s also ask Our Lord to help us not sacrifice the important things for a hollow legal compliance in empty things.

Readings: 1 Thessalonians 2:1–8; Psalm 139:1–6; Matthew 23:23–26.

20th Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday

In today’s Gospel Our Lord makes an admonition to the disciples that for us has become a basic rule of thumb: practice what you preach. All believers are brothers because they all share one Father in Heaven, and they are all disciples because they follow the teachings of one Master, Christ. Through baptism we’ve all received an equal dignity in the eyes of God, and when any member of the Church forgets that, other members of the Church suffer through their bad example.

At the same time, Our Lord does not deny that the scribes and Pharisees whom he is criticizing actually have an authority that comes from Moses that is to be respected. Today there are some who are tempted to discard the preaching because certain preachers do not practice it. That’s not what Jesus teaches us. It’s sad when the preacher gets in the way of the message by putting himself first, but if he is preaching what has been handed down to us from Christ through the apostles and their successors, it is still a teaching that is necessary for us.

The core lesson today to bishops, priests, and deacons is to not let themselves get in the way of communicating the message: it’s not about ego, titles, or honors, but, rather, about communicating the message Our Lord has entrusted to the Church’s pastors through the centuries. It’s a lesson to every believer as well: through our bad example we can hinder the spread of the Gospel. Let’s ask Our Lord today to help us be good brothers and disciples who share his message with those who need it without ego trips, so that they welcome the message and don’t get hung up on the messenger.

Readings: Ruth 2:1–3, 8–11, 4:13–17; Psalm 128:1b–5; Matthew 23:1–12.

20th Week in Ordinary Time, Friday

In today’s Gospel Our Lord reminds the Pharisees, and us, that if we truly want to understand the ways and desires of God we need to see things through the lens of love. Love for God and love for neighbor are intimately linked, which is why extremists of any religion who claim to harm their neighbor in the name of God are about as far from the truth as can be imagined. Some people try to project themselves on God, and paint him as aloof, distant, cruel, self-absorbed. Others in the face of suffering and evil question whether God loves us at all, or why he would allow bad things to happen.

If we want to truly understand who God is, we must look at him from the perspective of love and imitate him in his love for us. If we contemplate God on the Cross, the Son nailed to the Cross, depicted on every crucifix, wounded our of love for us, as Christians we need no further answer. God loved us so much that he sent his son to save the world, and his son saved the world through submitting to the worst cruelty that evil and sin could inflict: injustice, torture, and death. He subjected himself to that out of love for us. Yet he doesn’t throw that in our face: he is silent on the cross, but he speaks volumes to our hearts: he doesn’t say, “how dare you,” but “I love you.”

Love is not just something we try to live; it is a grace–the theological virtue of charity–poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Let’s try to see things through the lens of charity today in order to grow in love for God and love for others.

Readings: Ruth 1:1, 3–6, 14b–16, 22; Psalm 146:5–10; Matthew 22:34–40.

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