Tuesday - August 28, 2018
We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature -- trees, flowers, grass -- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence... We need silence to be able to touch souls.
~~ Mother Teresa
August 28 , 2018
Memorial of Saint Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Lectionary: 426
Reading 12 THES 2:1-3A, 14-17
We ask you, brothers and sisters,
with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ
and our assembling with him,
not to be shaken out of your minds suddenly,
or to be alarmed either by a "spirit," or by an oral statement,
or by a letter allegedly from us
to the effect that the day of the Lord is at hand.
Let no one deceive you in any way.
To this end he has also called you through our Gospel
to possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, stand firm
and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught,
either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours.
May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father,
who has loved us and given us everlasting encouragement
and good hope through his grace,
encourage your hearts and strengthen them
in every good deed and word.
with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ
and our assembling with him,
not to be shaken out of your minds suddenly,
or to be alarmed either by a "spirit," or by an oral statement,
or by a letter allegedly from us
to the effect that the day of the Lord is at hand.
Let no one deceive you in any way.
To this end he has also called you through our Gospel
to possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, stand firm
and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught,
either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours.
May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father,
who has loved us and given us everlasting encouragement
and good hope through his grace,
encourage your hearts and strengthen them
in every good deed and word.
Responsorial PsalmPS 96:10, 11-12, 13
R. (13b) The Lord comes to judge the earth.
Say among the nations: The LORD is king.
He has made the world firm, not to be moved;
he governs the peoples with equity.
R. The Lord comes to judge the earth.
Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice;
let the sea and what fills it resound;
let the plains be joyful and all that is in them!
Then shall all the trees of the forest exult.
R. The Lord comes to judge the earth.
Before the LORD, for he comes;
for he comes to rule the earth.
He shall rule the world with justice
and the peoples with his constancy.
R. The Lord comes to judge the earth.
Say among the nations: The LORD is king.
He has made the world firm, not to be moved;
he governs the peoples with equity.
R. The Lord comes to judge the earth.
Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice;
let the sea and what fills it resound;
let the plains be joyful and all that is in them!
Then shall all the trees of the forest exult.
R. The Lord comes to judge the earth.
Before the LORD, for he comes;
for he comes to rule the earth.
He shall rule the world with justice
and the peoples with his constancy.
R. The Lord comes to judge the earth.
AlleluiaHEB 4:12
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The word of God is living and effective,
able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The word of God is living and effective,
able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelMT 23:23-26
Jesus said:
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin,
and have neglected the weightier things of the law:
judgment and mercy and fidelity.
But these you should have done, without neglecting the others.
Blind guides, who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel!
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You cleanse the outside of cup and dish,
but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence.
Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup,
so that the outside also may be clean."
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin,
and have neglected the weightier things of the law:
judgment and mercy and fidelity.
But these you should have done, without neglecting the others.
Blind guides, who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel!
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You cleanse the outside of cup and dish,
but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence.
Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup,
so that the outside also may be clean."
******************************
Judgment with Mercy and Fidelity
While scolding the Pharisees in today's Gospel reading, Jesus names "the weightier things of the law." Then as now, all laws, rules and regulations fall into a hierarchy of importance. In the time of these Pharisees, the less important rules included how to pay tithes of mint and dill and cumin, and how to clean the sacred cups and dishes. Yet they adhered to these minor regulations much more religiously than to the higher laws (the moral laws) regarding how to treat people.
Today, whenever we hurt people while religiously adhering to whatever is "our policy" or "we've always done it that way" or "the proper way to perform rituals", we are no better than the Pharisees, and Jesus says woe to us! The official teachings of the Church tell us that the application of norms, rules, and policies -- even Canon Law itself -- must never interfere with a person's salvation.
Jesus said that we need to purify ourselves whenever our efforts to obey the lesser laws make us neglect the highest law, which is the Law of Love ("Love one another as I have loved you").
We slip into Pharisee-mode when we forget that the rules don't all weigh the same or by being more afraid of breaking the law than of breaking someone's spirit. It's good and right that we desire to obey all the teachings of the Church and that we want others to obey them too, but we need to remember that Jesus listed three laws as the most important: judgment, mercy, and fidelity. It's interesting why he would list these together: To be faithful (have fidelity) to God, we cannot pass judgment without mercy.
The right to make a judgment does not give us the right to be the judge. What if we know that the lady in front of us in the Communion line is divorced and remarried outside the Church? We can rightly judge that marital relations outside of a valid (i.e., sacramental) marriage is a sin. We can recall the Church law that says her ongoing sin makes her unworthy to receive the Eucharist.
However, we don't have all the facts. What if she wants an annulment from her first marriage but she's been persecuted for it and now she's afraid to proceed? Or what if she's merely ignorant of the value of getting an annulment? Would Jesus condemn her and refuse to give himself to her?
If we take on Christ's role as judge, as if we know what's in the hearts of those who are not obeying the rules, we place ourselves under God's condemnation. He's not looking at how well we enforce every rule; he's looking at how well we love, because love is what evangelizes, not legalism. When we give love, we give them Jesus, who is compassionate and full of mercy, which can inspire them to understand and embrace the teachings of the Church.
Judgment, mercy, and fidelity. They all work together to make a difference in our souls.
Today's Prayer
Forgive us, Lord, for worrying about appearances and for not going deeper into all the Words You give us. Give us true awareness of the need for mercy and love that exists in the world. Amen.
God Bless You.....
Rosary Family
The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”
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